Path of Seven Sins
by DutchWriters2
Summary: When the Titans go on vacation with Titans East (and Kid Flash and Jinx), they suddenly strand on the road in a forest near an abandoned village named after its hero, Rohan. Only, during the night, Starfire disappears and in order to get her back before sunset, they have to walk this Path of Seven Sins, or else she'll turn into stone - major RobStar, minor Flinx, BBRae and CyBee
1. Trailer

**Hey there! Before I begin, there is something I need to tell you. This is going to be my very first fanfic here, so any criticism and/or advise is very welcome. Also, English isn't my first language (being Dutch) so there might be some errors. I guess that was all, so on with the trailer.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans**

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Starfire was leaning against Robin lovingly, remembering last year. Exactly one year ago, they had defeated commander Daizo and finally kissed, and became a couple. Starfire looked up at him, and even with the mask she could tell he was thinking about that faithful day.

"I cannot believe it already has been a year." she admitted. Robin smiled at her.

"And I hope many more years will follow."

…**nothing is as it seems.**

Speedy ran out of the van, to the end, and looked under it. Nothing to see. The archer stood up again, and started looking for something.

"What's wrong?" Kid Flash asked. Speedy looked up at the speedster, and the boy could see the worry on the face of the young member of Titans East.

"There was a girl! I should've killed her! She stood right here!" he almost shouted, and started looking again, very certain there really had been a girl. Aqualad walked up to him.

"And where is she now?" he asked his friend, who shrugged.

"She… She disappeared!" Speedy said, receiving odd looks from the others.

.

"Robin?" Starfire asked her boyfriend, and after one look at her, Robin knew something troubled her.

"Yes, Starfire?"

"I think I saw her as well. She stood behind the van, and I wanted to call you, but she was already gone."

Robin put his hands in his pockets, and frowned. Starfire looked at him quizzically as he pulled out a small rusty golden key. Something was written on it: _amor verus animi morientis clavis est_.

"Robin, I did not know you possessed such key." Starfire said, examining it. Robin shook his head.

"That is because I've never seen it before."

**DutchWriters2 presents to you…**

"_Trames septem pecatorum_," Cyborg read from the gateway they were standing at, and translated it, "it means: path of seven sins."

"Path of seven suns?" Beast Boy said, misinterpreting his best friend's words. He looked at Raven, "now you will have to sunbathe, Raven." As response, he got a wedgie from Raven.

.

"Rohan de Beaufort," Cyborg read at the inscription of a statue in the village they had to spend the night. The statue stood central in the market square. The statue of Rohan had a grimace and a frown. His right foot stood onto a block of cement, with under that foot an inscription that read _pretiosum_. Under the statue of Rohan, the words _comes sine animo_ were written.

"The heartless count," Cyborg translated.

.

"Robin has a key." Cyborg said to Beast Boy.

"Yes?"

"You know the guy on the square?" Cyborg asked him.

"Yeah, that count Ruin." The green boy exclaimed.

"No, it's Rohan. He stood with his foot on a chest. And under that chest, there was something gold like."

"Yeah, but what has Robin to do with it?"

"I think the key fits on the chest." Cyborg explained, and Beast Boy saw the greedy look in his eyes. He instinctively felt they were going to get into big trouble.

.

"TITANS! WAKE UP!" Robin's voice could be heard over the whole village and the tents. Everyone came out, surprised, confused because Robin was standing there, right awake, clearly angry, worried and willing to take them far – as if Slade was signaled in Rohan.

"What's wrong?" Jinx asked.

"Starfire's gone." he said in a worried voice.

**When you start the battle hotheaded, know that you will loose.**

"What is this for a stupid game?" Cyborg asked. He certainly didn't believe in it. Beast Boy, Speedy and Robin looked at him in disbelief.

"This is real, Cyborg," Robin said, and already wanting to walk the path, and the other two also went that way, but Cyborg just stood on his place.

"Yeah, just like Easter!" Cyborg said jokingly.

"Don't you understand?" Robin shouted angrily, "we need to walk this Path of Seven Sins, or else Starfire will turn into stone!"

**If you're seduced by glory and desire, know for whom you choose.**

Bumblebee, Speedy, Beast Boy and Robin walked past the many gorgeous women and men. Then, Cyborg came into view. Bumblebee's mood got better, and she ran up to Cyborg.

"Cyborg, I… hey!" she shouted as she saw Cyborg was being seduced by one of those women. That wouldn't happen again, if it were for Bumblebee, and she ran up to Cyborg and the woman.

"Hey, keep you hands off my man!" she shouted, pushing away the woman, and with this, she sort of pushed Cyborg out of the way, who looked like he came out of a trance. When he looked back to the love of his life, fear appeared on his face.

**Whoever lingers on the path, will never reach the end, **

The ceiling once more almost collapsed on them, and the figure once more changed.

"_Choose wisely and do not linger,_" the voice said, the statue still not being moved.

"Dude, shut up! You're making me nervous!" Beast Boy screamed to the statue. He indeed grew nervous by this statue-dude, his hands all sweaty.

**neither who would rather fill mouth or pouch, or can only dreams of themselves.**

"Hey, that's mine!" Cyborg exclaimed as he saw Robin held the chest.

"Greed is also one of the sins, so it's better you don't have this at all," Robin said.

"Yeah, what is greed?" Speedy asked Robin. He looked back at Cyborg, trying to seek help from Beast Boy, who just shook his head. He wouldn't let the metal man come too close to the chest.

"Look at Cyborg," Robin simply answered, "then you'll see it."

**An envy-poisoned heart will also fossilize without pain.**

"Eh, dude, what does…" Beast Boy began, but Robin interrupted him.

"It means turning into stone," he answered, knowing Beast Boy was talking about 'fossilizing'. The changeling shrugged as if he didn't really care.

**Only who can resist them all, can bring this evil to justice.**

"Wow, what are you doing?" Kid Flash said, keeping Robin on a distance from the port, which suddenly shone out a bright light. Robin freed himself from the speedster, and looked at him.

"Going to find Starfire." and he walked through the port, the rest following quickly.

**Remember with all you will do, keep your heart filled with love and courage.**

Robin stood in an old room in the castle Starfire was held captive. In his hands, he held a sword, which felt uncomfortable, being used to his BO-staff. In front of him stood Star's kidnapper. He had long curly brown hair, reaching its shoulders, sword in his hands, and his face in a permanent frown. But, right now, he began to laugh, as Robin stood hesitantly in front of him.

"Robin, fight him!" Starfire shouted once more. Robin lifted the sword and was ready to use it to fight the man, but then, he remembered the message at the gateway – especially the last line. He stopped it, holding his breath. After a few seconds, he still breathed, (consider him lucky!) and looked back at his girlfriend no more than half a second.

"What are you doing?" Starfire screamed, and Robin lowered the sword. He couldn't fight this man, despite all things he did to all his friends.

"I can't fight him," he answered her, leaving her shocked, the count laughing evilly.

**Path of Seven Sins**

**coming July 20****th**** to fanfiction**

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**Some dialog might change in the actual story, because some scenes might be less/more detailed. As said above, first chapter will be posted on July 20th, and I hope you can patiently wait for the first chapter to appear. Please review; I really want to know if you like it or not...**

**-DutchWriters2**


	2. Stranded

**Disclaimer: nope, they're not mine...**

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One year after Tokyo, the Teen Titans decided to go on vacation. And, believe it or not, Robin had come up this idea, and not one of the others. He told them it couldn't hurt anyone, but they knew something bigger was going on. But they didn't ask. This time, they would go on a road trip through America. They didn't know how long it would take, but at least they could relax for a while. That's how nine Titans ended up in the small van, counting the driver. The five original Titans had invited Titans East over to come along, and they accepted – Mas and Menos were already waiting on them at their next stop. They had also invited Kid Flash and Jinx, who agreed on coming along. Unlike the Spanish-talking speedsters, Kid Flash decided to keep Jinx company in the van packed with the other Titans.

Aqualad, who drove the van, had his eyes straight on the road, but from the noise behind him, he could tell the others were having a nice time. Speedy was chasing Beast Boy (who took away his comb while the archer was still combing his hair) through the whole van. Meanwhile, Cyborg and Bumblebee were chatting with each other, and Kid Flash and Jinx held a small competition – they wanted to know who could hold their breath the longest. Kid held his breath for 29 seconds, and when Jinx decided she needed air, she had reached 30 seconds. But, it was rather unfair, because 'villains' always cheated, so he decided he should have won.

"27 seconds! I won!" He exclaimed. Jinx looked at him. She could easily see he was lying. She won, and yet she wanted to see the proof.

"What!" Jinx shouted, "That's impossible! Let me see!" but Kid threw it away, and it happened to hit Raven, who looked up from the book she was reading. With an angry look on her face.

"Who threw that?" she asked calmly. Dangerously calm. Exactly what Kid realized, and he pointed at Cyborg, to give the metal man the blame. In her head, Raven already plotted how to get her revenge. In the meantime, Aqualad decided to sit next to Raven, who looked up from her book again. Wasn't he the one driving the van? Aqualad smiled to her.

"Speedy took it over," he explained, pointing at the driver's seat.

In the very back of the van, Beast Boy just couldn't sit still. Even the term over-excited wouldn't fit him. Speedy got annoyed by it, really annoyed. It looked like the changeling wanted to annoy Speedy. To make him stop, he spun the wheel, and the bus abruptly turned a bit to the right, making Beast Boy stumble. And he fell right onto the seats of Robin and Starfire. Beast Boy quickly got up, grinned sheepishly, apologized and sat back on his usual seat, behind the pair.

The two of them barely noticed, but Robin gave him a glare like only he and Batman could. Starfire was leaning against Robin lovingly, remembering last year. Exactly one year ago, they had defeated commander Daizo and finally kissed, and started a relationship. Starfire looked up at him, and even with the mask she could tell he was thinking about that faithful day, too. That was the reason Robin didn't mind this small vacation - to celebrate their one long year being together.

"I cannot believe it already has been a year," she admitted. Robin smiled at her.

"And I hope many more years will follow." She snuggled back against him, closing her eyes. From behind them, Beast Boy had pulled out a camera. he was filming them, and giggled as he watched the couple being together, hoping that Raven would do the same when she finally realized her 'obvious' feelings for him. Nobody in the van noticed that some sort of fog blocked the view. It would be impossible to see more than a few feet ahead. The only ones to notice, were Speedy and Aqualad.

"You sure you can handle it, Speedy?" Aqualad asked his friend from where he sat, knowing the archer only got his driver's license three months ago. And since it was Aqualad's van they had chosen (being half a fish didn't mean that he didn't have a van), and not the usual T-car, he cared about the small bus, even if it was a bit old. The ginger grinned. He would have turned his head if he hadn't been driving.

"Don't worry, I got it ha–" Suddenly, they heard a scream the Titans identified as Speedy's. The bowman put his foot on the break, making everyone wonder what in the world Speedy was doing. On top of that, Beast Boy fell onto Robin and Starfire's seats again at the moment he moved from his seat to the ones in front of Bee and Cy. He received a glare from Robin, harder than the previous one, and in an impulse, he morphed into a fly.

In the meantime, the others wondered why Speedy stopped so suddenly, and ran out of the van, quite shocked. He ran to the back, and looked under the van. He was about to accept what happened, until he saw nothing. Which was, in Speedy's eyes, odd. He stood up, looking around as if searching for something.

"What's wrong?" Kid Flash asked, who just ran out of the van, having an excuse to get out of the discussion with about the timer. Speedy looked up at the redheaded speedster, and noticed Kid probably thought that he'd gone nuts. But that was the least of his worries.

"T-There was a girl! I-I should've killed her! She stood _right_ _here_!" he almost shouted, and started looking for this mystery girl again, very certain there had been a girl for real, while the others looked at him - some were doubting, others clearly thought he'd gone nuts (like Kid) and those who just got out of the van were wondering what happened. Eventually, Aqualad walked up to him. He saw immediately something troubled him, and since they were the best of friends, maybe even more, well… they were spending almost all of their time together, so Aqualad would know it if something was wrong with Speedy.

"And where is she now?" he asked his friend worriedly, who shrugged, the fear still present on his face.

"She… She disappeared!" Speedy said, receiving odd looks from the others. Disappeared? Everyone now gathered around Speedy.

"She just… disappeared?" Beast Boy asked, not really believing the archer.

"I'm speaking the truth, there really was a girl here!" Speedy shouted. Robin stepped closer to the Titan.

"We believe you, but something still seems strange. We–" he was interrupted by a sound, coming from two of the tires. They all went looking, and saw they've been cut. Several groans could be heard upon seeing it. Two of their tires had been cut – continuing their journey through the States would have to wait now.

"I'm already on it," Kid Flash said. Being the fastest out of those who took the van, it would take him not much time to get to the nearest city or village to go and get new ones. But he was stopped by Speedy, who shook his head.

"No, you don't. It's my fault. I'll go." Aqualad noticed his friend's eyes. The archer didn't want to walk for hours on end just to get a pair of wheels to repair the van. Then again, it was Aqualad's van, and the kid didn't want to see his friend suffer to much. Maybe, on the way there, there could be a small stream or a river…

"Speedy, you don't have to go. It's my van, and my responsibility. I'll go," Speedy nodded, a smile appearing on his face, glad he didn't have to be the one to go get two new wheels. As soon as Aqualad left them, a new question ran through their mind: where would they sleep? The van wasn't built for sleeping, and they really thought they would reach next city before sunset. Cyborg looked around, and saw a board, pointing in the woods. On the board the name 'Rohan' was written, and two pictures that let eventual tourists know there was a camping and a swimming pool. He started to grin.

"Let's take those tents out of the van, because I think we're gonna need them," he said, pointing at the board. Without hesitating they took the tents and their luggage (and Aqualad's) out of the van and started walking on the small path, to Rohan.

Starfire, however, turned around once more as he saw Speedy checking one more time if the girl really was there. But then, she saw something strange. There really _was _a girl, next to Speedy, so the archer couldn't see her. She wore a blue cloak, and had long straight brown hair. And she had no legs. No, there were no legs visible, but she sure should have them. She gasped upon seeing this.

"Robin, quick!" she called out, and looked at where the ghost-like-girl was, but she was already gone. She disappeared, to quote Speedy, who now was walking up to them. Robin walked to her.

"Yes, Starfire? What's the matter?" he asked. She gave one last shot at where she saw the girl, and then looked back at Robin. It… It couldn't be true… she only saw her because of Speedy's story, nothing to be scared off… But if she _was_ real, then she had to tell Robin! No, off course she couldn't, he might think she's crazy. Ah well, it was Robin she would tell it to, and knowing the young Teen Titan, he would probably investigate the scene, and try to prove to the others it was real…

"Never mind," she finally said. Looking at the others, she realized everyone had been waiting for her and Robin. Even Speedy, who just had joined the waiting. He smiled at her.

"Alright then, let's go camping."

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**So, that was that. I know, it would be faster if Kid got those tires, but I need him for the plot, for he has his lover, and Aqualad's isn't here. Next update is due on July 25th. Please review; I really want to know if you like it or not... Anyway, on with the reviews:**

**Zinnia99 **(reading in English and memorizing words helps a lot)

**Aliceblu3 **(I know it's a bit hard to understand, but it will be less confusing throughout the story)

**Penelope Rohdes **(thanks a lot!)

**christina **(thanks!)

**-DutchWriters2**


	3. The Heartless Count

The Titans were on their way to that village Cyborg had decided to go spend the night there. There were mixed thoughts about it. Some liked to say they could spend one night in the nature, some hoped it could be fun, but still hoped Aqualad got those wheels quickly, and others hoped Aqualad mysteriously showed up with the to wheels next moment, so they didn't have to be in Rohan at all.

Ahead of Robin and Starfire, walking a few feet behind the group, Kid Flash had disappeared and appeared next to his girl, surprising her. For a result, she hexed him into the bushes. They laughed at what happened to the two, except for Starfire, who was still thinking about that girl. That mysterious girl at the van. Then, she noticed Robin has said something to her, but she hadn't listened at all! Great girlfriend she was!

"I am sorry, could you repeat that, please?" Robin smiled.

"The two of them form a good couple, huh?" he asked. She looked from the group to Jinx to Kid Flash, and she understood who he was talking about.

"Yes, they are. I believe Beast Boy recently has started to call them 'Flinx'." she replied, again getting lost in certain thoughts about a mysterious girl. She looked up at her boyfriend, and was still seriously considering telling him about this girl. She could be looked at as crazy if she told anyone. But then again, she was considering telling it to Robin, the first one to step up to Speedy and tell him he believed his story, so he might believe her as well – she was practically giving him more prove there really had been a girl. Yes, she would tell him.

"Robin?" Starfire asked her boyfriend, and after one look at her, Robin knew something troubled her.

"Star, what it is?"

"I have seen something strange," she began, claiming all of Robin's attention, "Speedy was talking about a girl, yes?" Robin nodded. She took one last breath, and then started to tell her story.

"I think I saw her as well. She stood behind the van, and I wanted to call you or one of the others, but she was already gone before you saw her."

"Just gone?" Robin asked, and she nodded.

"The van had two leak wheels, that's also strange," Robin said, and Star agreed. Two leak wheels… that just screamed suspicion. They sighed and started walking again, noticing they were far behind the others now. As they walked, Robin put his hands in his pockets. When he felt something unfamiliar in one of them, he frowned. Starfire looked at him quizzically as he pulled out a small rusty golden key, unfamiliar for both. Starfire looked at it in awe.

"Robin, I did not know you possessed such key," she said, examining it. Robin shook his head.

"That is because I've never seen it before." he said, doing the same as Starfire. How it ended up in his pocket, he didn't know. They had something to add to all things that happened today, and could be seen as strange: first, the girl, then the two cut wheels, and now this small key. As if the girl wanted them to stay so they could find the key and solve something. What, they had yet to discover. And why, that was also a mystery.

Both of them noticed small lines on the key, which they later identified as letters and words. Robin pulled out a magnifying glass, because the letters were very small and almost unreadable. Quickly, he got what was written on there, and read this out loud, so Star could also know what the inscription was. "_Amor verus animi morienti clavis est._" he looked up at his girlfriend, who looked at him with a non-understanding look on her face. He understood she couldn't translate it - it was Latin.

"Please, what do those words mean?" Starfire asked, not knowing this was Latin, one of the languages not spoken by anyone anymore, but still people are able to study it.

"Something with death," Robin said, at the moment only being able to identify _morientis_ as being the ancestor of the French word _mort_, which means death. He knew he could translate it all in time, but that one word stood out most. Starfire looked at him, shocked the key (maybe) had something to do with the death.

"Hey, are you guys coming or what?" they heard Speedy's voice. The two noticed that they had, once again, stopped walking – to investigate the key, this time. Robin took Starfire's hand, and she flew them to the waiting group, in the knowledge that if they walked, it would take them longer. Besides, Robin enjoyed flying, though he didn't have that ability himself. When they reached the group, the others started to ask the two what they were doing, but they could keep the key out of sight, and they kept quiet about it. This was supposed to be vacation, and vacation means that no strange things should happen.

Though, whatever 'strange' meant, it should follow these titans anyhow. But what would you expect in a group with an acrobat, an alien princess, a green shape-shifter, a half robot, a half demoness whose father created her solely to destroy Earth, a villain-turned-hero, her speedster boyfriend, Spanish-speaking speedster twins, an archer who's obsessed with his hair, a (literal) bee and an ocean guy in a unitard?

Anyway, the Titans soon realized that if they had reason to keep it a secret, it should remain a secret. So the journey went on, until they finally had reached the village. They only had to pass an arch to enter the village. The group stood in front of the arch, and watched it. It seemed rather old, and there were words craved in it, but one group of three words stood out. Cyborg pulled out his arm, already downloading a translation app, as the words on the arch were all written in Latin.

"_Trames septem pecatorum_," Cyborg read from the gateway, and the app translated it immediately. "It means: path of seven sins."

"the path of seven suns," Beast Boy said, misinterpreting his best friend's words. He looked at Raven, who looked back at him, rather annoyed by the green changeling staring at her, "Now you will have to sunbathe, Raven." Before the trip, Beast Boy had complained to Raven about the lack of a bikini in her luggage (not that he had looked in it, which he had done). As response, he got a wedgie from Raven. And right now, he received another one, for his stupid comment, and for starting about that topic again in front of everyone.

"No, not suns, but _sins_." Cyborg corrected him, sighing. He shook his head. BB always made a drama about the smallest things.

"What are those anyway?" Jinx asked, voicing everyone's main question. What are these so-called sins anyway?

"That are things you're not allowed to do." Everyone looked at Bumblebee who merely shrugged. "What? I once heard my dad talk about it." She came closer to the arch and studied each word around the arch, until she finally walked through to read the names of the other sins at the other side. When they walked through, some of them felt like a different person. Well, they still felt like themselves, but they did feel a change. Like, one of them became greedier than he already was. Another one became more pride. And one of them now had more chance to get angrier than usual.

"All seven are carved in this arch," Bumblebee told them, "they are, by their Latin names, _superbia, luxuria, acedia, gula, avaritia, ira_ and _invidia_, also known as vanity or pride, lust, slowness, greed, gluttony, anger and revenge." Beast Boy smirked at this, looking at Speedy.

"Hey look, you've got all!" this time he didn't only receive angry looks from Speedy, but all others. That just wasn't funny. Like most things he said, actually; he still hadn't learned how to tell jokes properly. Choosing to ignore him, they walked further into the small village of Rohan. It looked like any other village could look in medieval times: some small houses, with none higher than one or two floors, and a church placed systematically in the middle of the village, off course with a graveyard, it's entrance looking out over the rather small market square. Immediately on the right of the entrance to the church, a statue could be seen. All captured by curiosity, they came closer to the statue. A smile lay on Raven's lips as she saw the man. He didn't look half bad.

The man that had posed for this statue, had long curly hair, reaching its shoulders; it was tall man, holding a sword in his hands, the end of it standing in front of his left foot. His right foot rested on something that had to resemble a chest, with the inscription _pretiosum_. But what the most stood out, was his face. No emotion could be read from its face. Well, entirely emotionless… he looked rather angry. He didn't seem that friendly, but Raven didn't mind – he looked _good_.

"Rohan de Beaufort," Cyborg read at the inscription of this statue. So, that man's name was Rohan. The text under it was all dusty, and almost not readable. Though, Bee could make out what was written underneath Rohan's name.

"_Comes sine animo_… Cyborg?" she added, knowing Cyborg would be able to translate through that app. "I'm already on it," he said, and not long after, he got it, "literally, this means 'count without a heart', so he's the heartless count." they all kept looking at this man.

"Was he really that mean if they called him heartless?" Kid Flash asked the question everyone wanted answered. Jinx found a plaque at the left side of the statue, explaining part of his history, and how he got this title of the Heartless Count.

"I don't think he was that mean. This says he cut out his own heart after the love of his life had left him," Jinx said, reading the plaque. Now, the others girls looked pitiful at this count. How romantic, that he would rather live without a heart than without his lover.

"So he literally didn't have a heart," Robin wanted to know. This seemed interesting and could have any connection with the mysterious key, but he first had to know if there was any connection at all. It seemed pretty obvious – the heartless count has no heart at the other side, a heartless person, in the literal way…

"Robin, it can't be someone doesn't have a heart," Cyborg said, and Robin knew he was right; people couldn't live without one. If anybody knew someone who can't live without his heart, he would like to know. Cyborg now translated that _pretiosum_ on the block of cement under its right foot.

"_Pretiosum_ means 'the precious'. I wonder what was in it," he added unwillingly. Seriously, he didn't want to say it, but he just blurted it. But, all he noticed was a small voice in his head, whispering he shouldn't have said that. He shrugged it away as Beast Boy responded.

"Duh! The most precious thing this dude had! And I hope it wasn't a ring." Then, he moved his hand to his stomach, said "I wonder if one of these bakeries are opened." and he rushed to one of the small buildings, closely followed by the others, but Robin and Starfire stayed with the statue, Robin examining it closely. Starfire just kept looking at the frown on the statue. How could a man look this angry?

"He seems to be very mad. I think this is one of those lords whose farmers had to pay more than needed," she now looked at the block of cement, the _pretiosum_ of the count, "and that is probably where he kept the money." When she looked longer at it, she noticed a small burst in the cement, not bigger than a coin. Through that burst, she could see a glimpse of something gold. She gasped, and Robin looked up, alarmed by the gasp Starfire let out by finding something important or something that shocked. Because she couldn't keep her eyes of the burst, Robin followed her gaze and now saw this shimmering of gold as well. They looked better, and saw a lock.

Then, he got an idea. He pulled the key out of the pocket where he found it, and kept it close to the lock. The end of the key resembled to the figure of the lock. Could it be…

"Guys," the two of them shot straight up, Robin putting the key back in the pocket immediately, after hearing Cyborg's voice coming from behind them, "Bee asks if you want something to eat, from the butcher or something?" they didn't even notice they had held their breaths until they heard Cyborg didn't talk about a certain key or 'the precious'.

"Nothing, thanks," Robin said.

"Don't try, because everything is closed," Raven states as she walked back to the others with Kid and Jinx.

"Everything?" Cyborg wanted to know. He was beginning to get hungry, and he really needed to eat something – anything but the disgusting tofu Beast Boy had brought with him, just in case. The three of them nodded, being joined by the others.

"Yeah, this whole village is abandoned. You're lucky I always come prepared!" Beast Boy said.

"There has to be food somewhere," Bee said, ignoring BB's comment. Beast Boy huffed. They didn't know how delicious the tofu tasted, because they never had tried it. he once tricked Cyborg into trying tofu, but he had to eat some meat. Luckily, Cyborg had to try first, and after some time, forgot what deal he made with his friend. Morphed as a mosquito, he flew through the air as something came into view. Some wild mushrooms he identified as eatable. He changed back into his human form and went to the mushrooms.

"Here's our food!' Beast Boy exclaimed, as everyone moaned, thinking he meant his private food. They weren't really fans of tofu, and they really didn't like the idea of it being shared among the others. Especially Cyborg, who basically hated the taste of tofu.

"Beast Boy, for the last time, we're not gonna eat your tofu!" Kid exclaimed. Beast Boy shook his head.

"No, I didn't mean the tofu, I meant this," he pointed at some wild mushrooms, "we might get something to eat in the forest!" He said it so cheery that they wanted to throw him into the pool, but they didn't. After all, the forest was the source of food for this village. And if the villagers could have survived here, the Teen Titans can survive here as well, with everything the nature could offer.

The main question was if it was going to be tasteful or not.

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**So, second chapter done! To make things clear, I'm working with the Dutch sins - so it's revenge instead of envy, but the rest is pretty much the same. ****Next update is due on July 30th. ****Please review; I really want to know if you like it or not... Anyway, on with the reviews:**

**Zinnia99 **(yeah, I almost didn't include her)

**-DutchWriters2**


	4. Girl in the fire

Robin sat in front of his tent, the key in his hand, trying to translate what was written on it. He already had 'true love' (_amor verus_) and 'dying heart' (_animi morientis_), but it was a start. Now all he had to do, was translate '_clavis est_', and he could tell Star. As he watched Cyborg pass, he automatically hid the key in his pocket. He felt like he had to keep it quiet about the key. Like nobody should know about it, but him and Star. He wondered why he thought the others didn't need to know, but something inside of him told him not to trust them.

And for some reason, Robin trusted the voice.

If the boy thinks I haven't seen it, he's wrong, Cyborg thought as he passed the tent at ten feet. Cyborg had seen the key only once before, when Robin and Starfire were busy with the _pretiosum_ at Rohan's statue, and from the first moment, he knew this was something that could make him rich. If it really was the key to the _pretiosum_, and if in that was gold, it would mean much to Cyborg.

As he walked on to where Beast Boy tried to cook the mushrooms, he cursed the speedster under his breath. Raven, who still was mad at him for throwing that timer, had her revenge. Cy had told Raven it wasn't him, but Kid who threw it, and the demoness had believed him – she sensed he spoke the truth. However, Kid wasn't really happy about this and had pushed Cyborg in the pool. Raven could eventually catch Kid and throw him at his time in the pool. Though, Kid could smile with it, and Cyborg had cursed him. The speedster wasn't partly made of solid metal. He could run quickly to make himself dry quicker. To him, it might as well not happened.

"Yo, BB!" Cy called out to his friend. The green boy looked up from the ingredients, and started to laugh when he saw his soaking wet best friend. I mean, we don't see a wet Cyborg every day, do we?

"Dude, what happened to you?"

"Kid pushed me in the swimming pool, and if you don't stop laughing, you might find yourself there as well." After some minutes, Beast Boy somehow managed to stop and asked Cyborg if he wanted to help him with cooking. The metal man couldn't help but agree – if BB was the cook, he would poison them all with these mushrooms.

"So, what I want to talk about, Robin ha-" But even before he could finish, the changeling shook his head and tuned out. At the moment, the boy wonder meant bad news. Only because he had interrupted him at a bad moment – twice! – he knew he should stay away from Robin as far as possible for today. Tomorrow, he might get close to them again. And even then, he should be careful around them.

"You don't even know what I was going to say!" Cyborg said, sounding a bit offended. Beast Boy turned his head back to Cyborg, looking a bit irritated. Well, it wasn't Cy's fault BB had interrupted their leader at a bad moment. "I'm listening!"

"Robin has a key. An old key, golden, rusty." he said, already pausing. He wanted his green friend to understand it fully, though the plan was simple. Beast Boy shrugged – he obviously didn't care if Robin had a key. Probably the key to his most priced possession. None of his business.

"Yeah, so what?"

"You know the statue of the guy? On the market square?" Cyborg asked him. It had something to do with the count, after all, so he better mentioned the guy now before BB started to ask questions.

"Oh yeah, that count Ruin," the green boy said, slightly remembering the name. Well, he thought that was the name of that frowning creep. Cyborg shook his head.

"BB, the name's Rohan. He stood with his foot on a box, a chest. And in that chest, there was something gold like." Beast Boy shrugged again.

"But what has Robin to do with that dude?" Cyborg started to smile at the thought of the possible gold.

"I think Robin's key fits on the chest y-under Rohan's foot." he said, seeing the excitement in his best friend's eyes. He knew he had caught the boy's attention.

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"You sure!?"

"Uh-huh!" Beast Boy pretended to think about it. Or, Cyborg hoed Beast Boy pretended like he thought about it. That's why his "no" came not so unexpected. Luckily, he had already prepared for this, just in case BB would turn his offer down.

"Don't you wanna be with Raven?" Cyborg asked, immediately making Beast Boy stop his movements, making him forget what he was doing. He slowly turned his head to Cy's, and the metal man saw his friend's green eyes. Despair and desire were just a few Cy saw in them. BB nodded.

"Yeah, but that probably won't happen," he said sadly, as if he'd already given up on her. When they witnessed the first kiss of Robin and Starfire in Tokyo, it triggered something in Beast Boy. He wanted to do the same, but with Raven. Last year, he'd given her hints enough he wanted to be more than just friends, or Raven either ignored them, or wasn't ready yet. And the green shape-shifter thought it was the first choice. Cyborg shook his head.

"C'mon, BB! Don't give up on her already! You know, maybe Raven would want to be yours if you had something women like more than dusty old books and creepy demonic things. Gold! They like gold! And if you've got enough, she might fall for you!" Cyborg easily lied – he knew Raven wasn't really the type to fall for rich boys. Something in him screamed it was wrong, and totally not how he would go for a problem in recruiting someone, but his brain told him it was good, because he helped his best friend getting him a girlfriend. Beast Boy's eyes lit up.

"Really." Cyborg nodded.

"Really. If we get to that gold, you get half of it. Deal?" Beast Boy hesitated a moment, but agreed anyway. Nothing to lose, right.

"Deal!" he said, and watched Cyborg leave him, probably to find something to spice the food with. When the half robot was out of his sight, Beast Boy sighed. He had seen the greedy look in his friend's eyes. He instinctively felt they were going to get into big trouble, by not only trying to steal some key Robin had kept in oblivion of the others, but also how they were going to use it. But hey, it might be the key to his relationship with Raven. No pun intended.

* * *

In the time they had left, they had built up the two tents they brought. One for the girls, one for the boys. The latter would have more space, as the tent was not only meant for Robin, Kid Flash, Beast Boy and Cyborg, but also Speedy and Aqualad, who still hadn't returned. The sun had already set some time ago, and the heroes gathered around the campfire for their dinner. If you call it that, since they hadn't counted on this small stop in Rohan. Everyone was busy with talking, Beast Boy joking around the most, eating his tofu, and Jinx and Kid Flash were doing some boyfriend/girlfriend stuff. Robin shoved closer to Starfire, and drew her attention.

"Have you found the translation of the words on the key?" she asked, as Robin nodded.

"Yes," he said, proud to have figured out what it meant, "It says: 'true love is the key to the dying heart'." Starfire looked at him. Robin already could guess her next question at the look in her eyes.

"What does it mean?"

"I don't know, but we'll figure it out together," Robin said, putting his arm around her shoulder, looking around to the heroes around them. Bumblebee showed she didn't really like the barely prepared dinner Cyborg and Beast Boy had tried to cook. It seemed the mushrooms didn't taste as well as Beast Boy thought.

"Robin," Starfire began after some time, when she was sure nobody was looking at them, "what do you think the chest contains?" Robin sighed – he actually hadn't thought about that. But it was something precious to the count, so probably money, or maybe something pricey, but those were just thoughts, and they might be disappointed if they kept thinking the box contained gold.

"I don't know, Star. We'll find out if we open it," Robin admitted. They didn't noticed Cyborg was keeping an eye on them, but couldn't hear what they were saying. He didn't think about using his mechanical parts to eavesdrop on them. He saw the key, half out of Robin's pocket, almost not visible. He elbowed BB, secretly pointing at the key in their leader's pockets. Beast Boy looked at it, saw the key and whispered "Oh, there it is!" before continuing eating his tofu. Not really what Cyborg expected.

dinner Cyborg and Beast Boy had tried to cook. It seemed the mushrooms didn't taste as well as Beast Boy thought.

"Robin," Starfire began after some time, when she was sure nobody was looking at them, "what do you think the chest contains?" Robin sighed – he actually hadn't thought about that. But it was something precious to the count, so probably money, or maybe something pricey, but those were just thoughts, and they might be disappointed if they kept thinking the box contained gold.

"I don't know, Star. We'll find out if we open it," Robin admitted. They didn't noticed Cyborg was keeping an eye on them, but couldn't hear what they were saying. He didn't think about using his mechanical parts to eavesdrop on them. He saw the key, half out of Robin's pocket, almost not visible. He elbowed BB, secretly pointing at the key in their leader's pockets. Beast Boy looked at it, saw the key and whispered "Oh, there it is!" before continuing eating his tofu. Not really what Cyborg expected.

"Just take it out of his pocket!" Cyborg whisper-commanded.

"Dude, do it yourself!" Beast Boy whispered back.

"You're closer!" Cyborg pointed out. That was true – Beast Boy sat only two feet away from Robin, with Cyborg on his other side. Sadly, the changeling still didn't seem to be in the mood of stealing from Robin. He watched how the half robot discretely pointed at Raven, who was reading a book, and made an almost not audible kissing sound. That motivated the green guy a bit, sighed and tried to come up with a plan. Ultimately, he stretched his arms, and leaned to his right – leaned towards Robin. He almost got it, but the moves didn't go unnoticed by Robin, who now stared at his teammate. BB grinned sheepishly before returning to his seat. After some time, BB had to shift into a small bug, which could be able to lift up the key from Robin's pocket. But when he just touched the key, Robin turned to him, an eyebrow raised.

"Beast Boy, what exactly are you trying to do?" he shifted back to his human form and tried to come up with a logical explanation, but failed. That was before he noticed everyone else was looking at him.

"Eh…" he started nervously, "I was, eh, checking your pockets. Yeah! I checked your pockets in case villains shrunk themselves to get us down from the inside here!" he shot a look in the pocket, "nope, no bad guys in there! We're all safe!" He quickly sat back on his place, blushing as red as a tomato, and everyone continued with what they were doing before they noticed Beast Boy's weird behavior.

The moment he sat back next to his friend, Cyborg punched him not that hard in the stomach and they started to talk again.

"Dude, stop doing this? What should I do now?" BB whispered, hoping Cy would stop babbling about that stupid key for the stupid chest with that possibly stupid gold in it.

"You know what to."

"No, I don't!"

"Do plan B."

"Plan B?" the green changeling wondered. He didn't remember making any plan B. Or even discussing about it. But according to Cyborg they had, because he wanted his friend to do it.

"Yes, plan B. Go!" Cyborg pushed BB until he got onto his feet. He sighed. Why doesn't Cyborg do this? He's the one who wants that thing! Nobody looked up as Beast Boy shifted into a dog and disappeared between the trees. Cyborg smiled as he saw his best friend gave in. but when he turned his head, he saw Bumblebee looked quizzically at him. Almost as if she suspected something. He smiled to his girlfriend, signaling it was just something not to be worried about. This merely raised Bee's suspicion, who now kept a close eye on her man.

"We'll investigate it tonight," Robin said to Star, as he wanted to know the mystery around the key and the chest. It was now too late for Aqualad to come, and they would have to wait for his arrival tomorrow.

"But Robin, what if something bad happens?" Starfire said innocently. In a village as this, you would never know. Robin smiled at her.

"I'm sure we can take care of that. We've defeated many villains, and I don't think the key or chest will do something terribly bad. It won't be worse than Trigon," he said confidently, holding Starfire's hand. The princess smiled at him. They only had yet to learn the dangers the chest brought with it.

The fire slowly began to die out, and Kid Flash (responsible for the fire) poked it with a stick to make it fire up again, but he miserably failed. The wooden pieces started to smoke. Realizing they probably had to make another one, he ran away and stood on his place the next second, more branches in his hands. The smoke kept growing thicker. Before Kid could make a fire again, there was a small _**boom**_ and a girl appeared in the smoke. Kid jumped back, being the one to stand closest to it. Speedy's eyes widened and Starfire gasped, for it was the girl she saw at the bus, the girl Speedy thought he'd killed. Speedy's face turned pale.

"_Help me_," she said, scaring the hell out of everyone, (except for Raven) especially Speedy, "_True love is the key to Rohan's heart. Time is running out. There still is a chance. Free his heart_." The girl disappeared after these words. With a _thud_, Speedy fainted – it apparently was too much for him. It stayed silent for less than three seconds, and then Beast Boy appeared, wearing a grey cape, standing in the died out fireplace. Everyone had to laugh for his amazing voice change, but Raven simply rolled her eyes because of his annoyance and continued to read.

"Count Rohan comes to get his girlfriend! She can't hide from him! He wants to see blood. He wants to see blood!"

"Eh, BB?" Cyborg interrupted Beast Boy's play. He looked up at Cyborg, who pointed at the fire, which miraculously had started to burn again, without anyone's help. Apparently, Beast Boy didn't notice the heat under his feet.

"Your cape's on fire," Cy said as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Then BB saw it too. His cape was indeed on fire. He tried to get it burned out, but waving around with it only made it grow. As everyone's eyes were glued onto Beast Boy, Cyborg leaned to Robin to snatch away the key. Just a few inches… he failed when Robin stood up to help Beast Boy, who was screaming very loudly. Well, he was helped by Kid Flash, who searched a bucket, found one, filled it with the filthy swimming pool water and threw it over Beast Boy, while the others just watched at the scene.

"Dude! That's disgusting!" BB screamed out, as some of the water ended up in his mouth. Let's say it didn't taste that well. Kid shrugged.

"It was either that or being roasted like a chicken. Besides, that was actually a good joke, BB." the green changeling hadn't been there to see this 'girl', to figure out what Cyborg meant with that plan B. so the others just assumed it was just an attempt for one of BB's jokes – except for Star and Speedy, off course. Beast Boy looked at Kid Flash, not understanding what he was talking about? _What girl? What joke?_

"Joke? What joke?"

"the girl in the fire," Starfire said, "especially when you used that scaring voice." She thought that if anyone had to be afraid, it should be her, so that's the reason she said this to her green friend. The whole time, she had hold onto Robin for protection, because her years on Earth had learned her it isn't usual that people appeared in the smoke of a fire, unless they finally had prove ghosts did exist. Again, Beast Boy didn't understand this.

"What do you mean, scary voice?"

"You used a girl's voice and wore a blue cape. I really believed it was real."

"FYI, I have a gray cape, not a blue one. If I had, I could've asked Raven to lend me hers, which she wouldn't do anyway. And I didn't use any voice, just my own." He sat down again, and glanced around the group, his eyes resting longer on Raven than the others. Then, he noticed Speedy.

"What's happened to him?" he asked.

"He fainted because of you," Kid said, but BB shook his head again.

"Dude, I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about." he said as serious as he could get. It as silent for the next minute, as they couldn't believe Beast Boy made a joke and then pretended like he doesn't know about it. Yet, it was Beast Boy, unpredictable at some points. It stayed silent until Bumblebee stood up.

"We're going to sleep – it's quite late," she said, pointing to herself and Jinx, who just yawned as Bee said this. The others began to think about it. It sure was late, and they all were growing tired. So it didn't take long before the rest followed Bee toward the tents. Robin and Starfire stayed behind, however, Robin thinking to have solved the mystery with the key and the chest.

"Robin, the girl in the fire…"

"I know, Star. The girl you saw at the van. Your reaction told me it was the same girl." He paused a bit before continuing, "This girl told us true love is the key to Rohan's heart, and the key mentions this could be the key to a dying heart, which would mean this is the literal key to Rohan's heart." Starfire listened as Robin gave his explanation. It could be that he's right. And still something doesn't add up. A heart is either alive, or dead, and how can the heart of a dead man still be _dying_?

"And what about the girl?" she asked.

"There is something about the girl. She said 'help me'. She might have appeared to us as just a spirit, but something tells me there is more about this girl." Behind him, a small branch made noise when a foot stepped onto it. The couple turned their heads and saw Kid Flash standing there, looking tired. "Hey Rob, Star, you coming or not?" Robin turned his head to Starfire and he knew they thought the same. Tonight.

"I'll see you at midnight at Rohan's statue," Robin said, confirming their date. He helped Starfire up and walked with her to the tents, Kid already gone. None of them noticed Cyborg's one glowing red eye that spied on them, and heard what they said. At Rohan's statue around midnight. He would be there early. And BB would be there, too. He would make sure that happened, so he could take the chest filled with gold. He walked away, preparing for the night.

Few seconds later, Speedy woke up, confused, wondering how long he'd been unconscious and what time it was.

* * *

**And there's the girl again! Feeling a bit bad to let Speedy faint, but what would happen to you if you saw the ghost of someone you supposedly killed? ****Next update is due on August 4th. ****Please review; I really want to know if you like it or not... Anyway, on with the reviews:**

**Zinnia99 **(yeah, that's true... just wait until they're actually walking the path ('round ch 6 or 7))

**magicchalkdust **(thank you)

**-DutchWriters2**


	5. Count Rohans chest

Beast Boy went to the public bathroom he found at the camping earlier that day, to get the smell of that disgusting water off of him. Luckily, that water was still somewhat clear, clearer than the pool water, and after some minutes, he smelled like his old self again. As he was busy with other business there, he could only think of what Kid and Star had said earlier that evening. _That was actually a good joke, BB. The girl in the fire, especially when you used that scaring voice and wore a blue cape. I really believed it was real._ He still didn't understand what they were saying. Did they want to prank him? He hadn't done anything, except maybe trying to distract them so Cy could get the key. And it wasn't that scary to have your cape on fire, not when you daily kick butt. So why did Speedy faint? Or was it part of the prank?

Suddenly, a hand grasped his shoulder and Beast Boy let out a scream. He spun around, ready to fight, and almost accidentally hit Cyborg. He sighed in relief – nope, no ambush. "Oh, it's just you!"

"Yeah, it's just me. Tell me, what happened back there?" Cyborg wanted to know. Beast Boy, once again, felt a little confused. Why did they turn against him? And why did his best Cyborg agree on doing it? He hadn't do anything Cy didn't want him to.

"Dude, what'd I do!?" he shouted. He had enough of that little prank of them.

"You had to be a distraction, you didn't have to give them a heart-attack, though it sort of was funny when Speedy passed out," he said, chuckling when he thought of the fainted archer.

"But I did distract them, so what did I do wrong?" Beast Boy wanted to know.

"As if you don't know. You were almost as scary as Trigon," Cyborg admitted. The whole voice-change, the blue to gray cape change, just the whole performance. _Almost_ as scary as Trigon, so not completely as scary as Raven's daddy.

"Hey, I can't help it the cape burned," the green changeling said, before walking away. He was done there, and if Cyborg didn't want to tell him what exactly happened, he'd better go to his tent. He would have if Cyborg hadn't blocked the way. His main gaze was, once again, greed.

"Now's not the time to go. Beast Boy, I want that key!" he said, almost shouting this, scaring the hell out of Beast Boy. The boy hadn't seen his best friend that mad since they had stolen his car, and several other occasions – but he never had been mad at Beast Boy for any reason whatsoever. Never. "You know what? We are going to steal it from Robin." Now, Beast Boy's jaw dropped. Did his friend, the ever good Cyborg, want to steal from _Robin_? It was one of the stupidest idea the metal man has ever had. 1) Robin wasn't the type to steal something from. 2) Heroes just don't suggest to steal something, and especially not from other teammates, let alone the leader of that team. Beast Boy nervously looked at his friends.

"Eh, Cy, aren't we supposed to be the good guys? As in, don't steal anything at all?" He tried to talk it out of his friend's head, but Cyborg shook his head.

"You just think of Raven, your future girlfriend if we get that key and later on, the chest. We are gonna do it tonight." With these words, he left. Beast Boy gulped and watched him leave. Something was wrong with Cyborg ever since they entered the village of Rohan. And he didn't like this sudden change at all.

* * *

That night, both groups slept very well – though the boys couldn't explain where Kid Flash had gone, warming Jinx's sleeping bag. There was good weather, really warm, and there lay a sort of calm vibe over the camping. Or, it was really calm up until half past eleven. In the boy's tent, Robin lay closest to the entrance for clear reasons. Then came Speedy, looking like he was having a nightmare. Then Beast Boy, and lastly Cyborg. The latter still being awake. He looked up at his watch, and thought it was time. Half an hour would be enough to steal the key, go to the market square, go get the chest and the gold and get the heck out of there before Starfire would show up. Or worse: Robin.

Next to him, Beast Boy was asleep – the main reason Cyborg was still up. He snored like hell! How Robin and Speedy could sleep through that, he couldn't tell. He shook Beast Boy's shoulder, trying to wake him up, but miserably failed as Beast Boy turned and hugged him, still sleeping, thinking he was having a nice moment with Raven. Seeing no other option, he struggled his way out and slapped him in the face, already covering BB's mouth with his hand. The boy indeed screamed, but the two other male heroes just kept sleeping, Speedy still having that nightmare. After Beast Boy saw Cyborg holding his robotic hand covering his mouth, he pushed it away.

"Dude! Wha-" Cyborg put a finger on his lips and pointed at the two sleepers. Beast Boy nodded, and Cyborg now pointed at Robin.

"Get the key," Cyborg whispered, starting another small fight between the two. Beast Boy didn't like being commanded by a clearly very greedy Cyborg, and Cyborg didn't like it that Beast Boy disobeyed him. He wasn't for nothing second-in-command. Plus, they were equal team members, something Cyborg seemed to have forgotten at the moment.

Eventually, he could convince the green changeling into taking the key. Beast Boy shifted into a mouse and made his way to Robin, while Cyborg tried his best to stay silent, for if they were ever to be woken in their sleep, they were in attack mode, like most of the heroes. Especially Robin. They had to stay sharp at all times. While trying to stay silent, he stepped onto Robin's alarm clock, which made much noise as it shattered to pieces. His feet being metal, Cyborg didn't feel anything.

Beast Boy and Cyborg stopped moving, not daring to make any moves. They heard Speedy mutter something and roll over in his sleep. So became a sweaty forehead visible. Beast Boy slowly crawled forth, and eventually the key came into view. He picked it out of the pocket, and pushed it towards Cyborg, who picked it up. He couldn't help but smile while looking at it. Finally the key was his! Now he only needed to open up that chest and he would be rich…

When he got out of the tent, a green mouse hurried out and morphed back in Beast Boy. "C'mon, BB, we go!" he said, already running off camping ground, walking to the village not farther than a mile away from them. He was too occupied by his daydreams to notice the annoyed look in the changeling's eyes. He just wanted to get some sleep, not to go on a stealing trip in the middle of the night, although it could be dangerous not to do what a greedy Cyborg said – he hadn't met this side of his friend that much, but he quickly learned it could be a dangerous side. When they reached the statue, they looked up at the frowning creep, like Beast Boy tended to call him. Yep, still the same old heartless count Rohan.

"Cyborg? You're very sure you wanna do this, right?" Beast Boy tried one more time, but it didn't work. His friend was really sure to do this, even if it was wrong.

"Off course I am! Why wouldn't I?" he snapped, holding the key in his hand. Before actually trying to test if the key fits, he made Beast Boy turn into an ant and let him crawl through the burst in the _pretiosum_. He needed proof if it really was gold. He waited impatiently for his return and held back a shout to move faster. Not much later Beast Boy crawled back out and shifted back into himself.

"And, what does it look like?" Cyborg asked him.

"Dude, you were right! That chest is totally made out of gold!" was the only response he got. He screamed this, not caring to remember what Cyborg might have told him before. Now that he was convinced there really was some gold to grab, Beast Boy certainly was in. Cyborg grinned as he put the key into the lock, and turned it. And turned it. And turned it. And how hard he tried, it seemed like that key didn't move a millimeter after putting the key in the lock.

Cyborg frowned. Now the key fitted, he couldn't open the lock. He was so close by getting that treasure of gold, and now what stopped him was a rusty key and rusty lock. He didn't let it get in the way, and pulled out his sonic cannon. Beast Boy looked warily at his friend. It wasn't a good sign he saw his friend's cannon. As in, not a good sign at all he wanted to use it to open a damn chest. And who said it was cannon-proof? Beast Boy jumped from one foot to another nervously.

"Eh, Cy, is it really necessary to-"

"Yes, it is!" he cut off Beast Boy, shooting a blast toward the _pretiosum_. Beast Boy immediately ducked away. There was a blue light, the impact, and the two friends were blasted away because it was close to where they stood. Beast Boy had already ducked away before the impact, so Cyborg was blasted away faster than his green-skinned friend. Being gone through worse, they stood up quite fast, and their jaws dropped as they saw what Cyborg's action had done. Or, actually, what it hadn't.

It looked like the statue hadn't even been touched by anyone in the last few centuries. As if Cyborg hadn't pulled out his cannon at all. They came closer to Rohan's statue, and confirmed it had been protected by something they only could explain as magic. They had yet to decide if it was good magic, or evil magic. Beast Boy's jaw dropped.

"Okay… that was weird," he commented, as Cyborg started to smash the pretiosum, hitting it with each word he said. Now he really was mad.

"How. Can. It. Be. _That. You're. Still. __**Not. Broken**_!?" With the last hit, the cement around the chest started to crumble away. Beast Boy looked at it, confused. After the statue being untouched by Cyborg's cannon, it was weird his fist would break it. Cyborg, at the other hand, began to smile greedily as he kept hitting the block of cement, until the chest was visible in the front. Beast Boy hadn't lied that it was made of gold, and Cyborg looked at it. He picked it up, carefully, and a blast of wind emerged from where the chest was placed only seconds ago. Beast Boy noticed, but Cyborg didn't as he was too occupied looking at the chest and figuring out why it wouldn't open.

There cracked something, what both Titans recognized as breaking stone and cement.

"BB, stop it. The chest is in my hands," Cyborg said, thinking Beast Boy was still busy breaking down the cement block.

"But I'm not doing anything!" the green changeling shouted in his defense. Cyborg looked at his friend, and saw that he indeed wasn't doing anything. The look on their faces changed into fear. _If I'm not doing it, and he's not doing it, then who is?_ They both slowly looked up at the statue of the count, from which the face had started to fall down. Both boys ran away, hoping they wouldn't get into trouble, back to the camping, taking another route than the one they used to get there.

After the tents came into view again, they stopped to catch their breath. This couldn't be happening, this just couldn't be happening… they had faced a maniac, a mind-controlling 'headmaster', the ultimate source of evil and a brain, then why had they run away? Because they've never seen anything like that before.

"What was happening back there?" Cyborg asked panting.

"Rohan came alive!" Beast Boy shouted – he was positive the count had risen again.

"That's impossible," the robot man stated. Beast Boy now glared at his friend.

"Cy, we _know_ it's possible – just think about what happened to Terra! Just like her, he came alive," he looked at the chest, and in his mind, pieces began to fall into place, "Rohan wants his chest back." Beast Boy already moved his hands towards the chest, which Cyborg defended immediately.

"He won't get it back!" Cy shouted, still a bit panting. No because of that sprint they'd done, but from just happened events. As he saw Beast Boy wanted his chest, he ran away with it for 100 feet and stopped there, turning to the woods. Perfect place. He knelt down and hid the chest on the spot. When he was done, nobody would notice it was there, unless you knew it was hidden there. He turned around to walk back to the tent, and saw Beast Boy glare at him again.

"What's the matter with you?" Cyborg asked, and Beast Boy's eyes widened.

"What"s the matter with _me_? Dude, you're the one acting weird, not me! Once Robin he-" he was interrupted by his best friend.

"Look, he won't hear about it because you're gonna keep your mouth shut, or else everyone will know about your second nevermore incident." Beast Boy's cheeks suddenly turned red as her thought about the incident. He once returned there, and had met Raven's love-side. The two almost kissed, but then Raven had shown up and ended it. Nobody knew about it, except for Beast Boy and Raven, so how Cyborg knew about it, he couldn't tell.

"Dude! Why do you- You're not supposed to- this is blackmail!" he cried out. Nobody was supposed to know about it. Cyborg crossed his arms, and shrugged. He obviously didn't care that he blackmailed the green changeling in order to keep the whole chest thing a secret. Beast Boy gaped at his friend. Cyborg never had done anything like that to him. He even promised he never would. What had gotten into him?

"Do we have a deal or not?" Cyborg simply asked. Beast Boy, looking at Cy, was doubting if he should accept despite the fact he's blackmailed. He wouldn't guess Cyborg was losing an inner battle. The original Cyborg, who wouldn't even think about blackmailing his best friend, was losing it over the new personality he'd received upon arriving at Rohan. How hard the original tried to get back control, the 'virus' got him every time. Sadly enough, Cy's original personality was losing it over the 'virus'.

"Okay…" Beast Boy finally sighed. Knowing Cyborg could kick his butt at any time, and because of the blackmail, what choice did he have left? Cyborg grinned, and he walked with Beast Boy back to the tents, ready to try and open the rust locked chest tomorrow.

When they were almost there, they heard something in the woods. They didn't bother looking, because it just might be a squirrel or something. Nothing really special. Yet, as they heard it again, they walked at a fast pace instead of going there, just in case it was something dangerous. They also didn't feel like fighting – it's somewhere near midnight – and Cyborg really wanted to open that chest, just like BB now wanted to go back to sleep. Hopefully he wouldn't try to open it too close to the tents, or Robin might find out about it. When they entered their, tent, Robin and Speedy were still asleep. They snuck into the tent, and went to their sleeping bags.

Robin sat straight up and asked the two "Where were you?"

* * *

**So, cliffhanger! What do you think Robin will do to them? ****Next update is due on August 9th, and we'll get back to Rob. ****Please review; I really want to know if you like it or not... Anyway, on with the reviews:**

**Zinnia99 **(Speedy fainting was my favorite part, too! First idea was that he got some more branches for the fire, so he wouldn't be there at all, like BB, but I changed it last-minute. He won't pass out next time he'll see her, though, he'll just be immobilized for a while)

**-DutchWriters2**


	6. Gone

Robin walks through a forest. One where Poison Ivy would stay_ months_ to restore the plants. All vegetation is dead, as he passes trunks and hears the branches crack under his feet. He doesn't really know where exactly he's going, yet he keeps walking. He needs to go further, not stopping for anything. All that matters at the moment, is to walk on. Somebody needs his help, someone real close to him. He wouldn't let her down. Not like the others failed to save her. So he keeps on walking.

At some point, he hears a scream. Her scream. He begins to run towards her, passing the dead trees, attempting to get closer to her. But, as he knows, he is expected by her kidnapper and he doesn't want her to be with him. No love for the kidnapper, no love for them, no love for any person. The feeling of reaching the place where he heard the scream, and finding it with nobody there, begins to feel familiar. It has happened many times before.

After running so long he almost gets tired, he finally sees her. She looks beautiful as always. Starfire from Tamaran. She is far away from him, but he could go closer. No moving her now, as he would know which way the kidnapper would run, and catch him quicker. He knows it's a trap. Letting her sitting there so openly, any other would not think about the possibilities and run blindly in the trap, like Beast Boy or Speedy. Robin, on the other hand, knows it's a trap. It has to be – all of his friends had claimed to have seen Starfire, go check it out on their own, only to be vanished in thin air when the others arrived. Now, Star is counting on Robin, and Robin alone.

As he reaches her, she smiles and he smiles back, kneeling next to her. He can see that she holds the key he found in her hand – the main reason she is kidnapped. Robin asks her where the chest is, and then, he hears someone cackle behind him. He knows that voice. Robin stands up, spins around and faces the kidnapper – count Rohan de Beaufort. He is holding the chest, and only cares about the key in Starfire's hand. It's Robin's job to protect her, and he would do so. He would not fail like his friends.

"Prepare to die, Robin," the count says. An emotionless voice. The perfect one for someone with his personality.

"You won't get that key, Rohan; not as long as I'm here," Robin replies. Rohan cackles again, stating Robin can't fight back. And Robin knows the count is right. As long as he doesn't know what happened to his friends, he can't fight him. Only defend himself. His heart breaks seeing Starfire pleading him to fight, as her powers has been taken away from her. She was an easy victim.

Coming minutes, he would be beaten, staying away from the count at quite a distance, trying to keep him from his love. Another punch in his stomach makes him flinch, and when he gets up, he is confused to see not only Rohan was gone, but Starfire as well. Next to him stands a long row of statues, all facing the left. He goes to the one last in the row. The statue is the one of a young woman.

He jumps back as he notices wings attached to her back. This statue is Bumblebee. Not a statue made for her, rather made of her. She stands as if she was to attack someone. The others in the row are his friends as well – all trying to stop some criminal, all not noticing what had happened to them. Now he knows what for game Rohan was playing. He turns people that stand in his way into stone.

Robin gets mad. The count has turned his friends into useless statues! He walks to the left, where the statues are looking at, and soon finds Starfire and Rohan. It feels good to see she was unharmed. It feels not good to say the same about Rohan, who showed Robin he has the key. Robin grabs his BO-staff and charges at Rohan, filled with anger. He hears Starfire screaming not to charge, and the count cackles, not even trying to defend himself. Robin feels how he slowed down, and can't move himself. He looks down and sees that his legs already has turned into stone, and it's crawling higher and higher.

He just has enough air to shout Starfire's name as the count turns to her, an evil grin plastered on his face, ready to strike…

* * *

Robin woke up from his dream/nightmare, at first checking his body. Nothing hard to feel. He wasn't turned into stone. And his friends as well, as he saw how Speedy was dealing with a nightmare of his own. He only didn't know where Cyborg, Beast Boy and Kid Flash were. He lay down again, but failed to fall asleep again. He kept thinking of the dream. It felt so realistic. A bit too realistic. As if he was being warned.

The tent moved as Cyborg and Beast Boy entered. Both lay down and tried to get asleep again - Beast Boy looked exhausted. Robin frowned. How long have they been up? Where were they all those time? And most importantly, what were they doing that was so important it couldn't wait for tomorrow? After checking if Speedy really was deep asleep, he sat straight up and looked at the surprised Titans.

"Where were you?" Beast Boy and Cyborg looked up, surprised to see Robin awake. They had been sure the two of them had been asleep, so how did he suddenly wake up? Cyborg shot a look at Beast Boy, as if to warn him, before answering.

"None of your business." Robin frowned. They were acting suspicious to him. Normally, they would tell him everything. Now… they were hiding something. Remembering his dream, and the time, he decided to ask them about Starfire.

"Have you seen Starfire by any chance?" If they had been up, they must've seen her somewhere. His widened his eyes – he had forgotten about their date! This went unnoticed by the two.

"We've seen her," Cyborg said, receiving a non-understanding glance from Beast Boy. The latter frowned. "We did?"

"Yep! She was behind that filthy bathroom, with Kid Flash." Robin immediately got jealous. What business did she have with Kid? But this jealousy disappeared as Beast Boy told Robin they haven't seen her, and especially not with Kid Flash. Robin sighed relieved. At that moment, Speedy shot up, all sweaty, shouting "I'm sorry!" The others raised their eyebrows as Speedy looked around, confused. Seems like his nightmare was over.

"Is it already morning?" Robin shook his head. Speedy watched the three core male members of the Teen Titans. They had been discussing something, but he didn't want to know what it was about. He had other things to do. Like, trying to sleep without that girl haunting him. "Listen, if you wanna talk now, do it outside, or tomorrow, but not now. Some of us try to sleep." He lay back down, closing his eyes.

"Where were you if you weren't at that bathroom?" Robin wanted to know, but Cyborg put his finger on his lips.

"Hey, you heard Speedy. Let's close our eyes, shut our mouth and go to sleep, okay?" When saying 'shut our mouth", he looked directly at Beast Boy. They both lay down, just did Robin, but he failed to fall asleep again. What Cyborg had said, made Robin assume they had done something. I they kept it a secret for their friend and leader of the team, it had to be either really bad or really evil. He decided to check the village, just in case. Besides, he was very late for his date with Starfire, so he'd better hurry.

When he stood up, he noticed someone – probably Cyborg – had broken his alarm clock. Luckily, he always took a spare one with him. It was five over midnight. Five minutes too late, but Star might wonder where he was, being that late. Before going out of his tent, he heard Cyborg ask him a question. "Hey, where are you going?"

"None of your business," Robin couldn't help but reply. He ran out of his tent, to the market square a mile away. But not before checking the girl's tent first if she was still there. No, Starfire wasn't there, but for some reason Kid Flash was. Shaking his head, he made his way to the village, the market square with the statue.

He arrived there, and shouted Starfire's name, hoping to get a quick response, so he could apologize for being late and investigate the statue and it's _pretiosum_. However, he didn't hear anything. He called out again, and started running around in Rohan. He ran up to the market square, and something immediately caught his eyes – Rohan was gone. The statue of Rohan de Beaufort was gone. Something was off. And somehow, he couldn't help but connect the missing statue with a missing Starfire and Cyborg's strange behavior.

Without any hinder, he searched for her through the whole village, but couldn't find anything. Not a single trace of his beloved alien girlfriend. He checked the village again, and again, and again, before finally admitting she really was gone.

He ran back to the camping. He needed to tell the others. They had to find her. She could be in great danger, she could have been kidnapped, killed or worse. He shook his head, trying not to think of all the possibilities of what could have happened to her. As he bolted back, those thoughts kept crossing his mind, alongside some others. He was worried about Starfire, who just disappeared in the middle of the night. He was worried about Cyborg, too, as he acted strange.

"TITANS! WAKE UP!" Robin's voice could be heard over the whole camping. Everyone came out, surprised, confused because Robin was standing there, right awake, clearly angry, worried and willing to take them far – as if Slade was signaled in Rohan.

"What's wrong?" Jinx asked. What the hell made him wake them up in the middle of the night? Yes, they were heroes, but still, they needed sleep, too. More than some hiking Robin tended to give at the most annoying of times. Such as in the middle of the night.

"Starfire's gone," he said in a worried voice.

* * *

**Count Rohan and Starfire are both officially gone now. What do you think that happened? Next update is due on August 14th. ****Please review; I really want to know if you like it or not... Anyway, on with the reviews:**

**Puck x Brina4ever** (I update every five days, so I'll have enough time to write the next chapter. And yeah, Spidey is really cool!)

**DawnGuard Dragon** (Why thank you, and here's more)

**-DutchWriters2**


	7. Explanations

_____Just after Cy declared they're going to get the key_

The four Titan girls prepared for sleeping. Because there were more boys than girls, they had a fairly small tent. Closest to the entrance was Raven. Lying next to her, was Jinx, and then Starfire. Bumblebee was lying at their feet, as the tent was too small to allow four people slept next to each other. Starfire and Bumblebee were all ready to go to sleep, but Raven and Jinx had yet to change into their pajamas.

"Eh, Raven, can I place my sleeping bag there?" Jinx asked.

"Why?"

"That way, KF can sneak away faster, if it's necessary," she simply said. That caught Raven's attention. The demoness raised an eyebrow, looking at Jinx' pleading face.

"So Kid is coming?" she asked in her ever monotone voice, but Starfire was able to hear a hint of anger, after living with her for a good amount of time. Raven still was mad at him for throwing that timer at her, if it was intentional or not. Without saying a word, she moved her stuff over to where Jinx first should sleep before she arranged with Kid he would sleep in the smallest tent. She lay down in her sleeping bag.

"Rae?" Bumblebee asked, causing Raven to look angrily at her.

"What now? Are you going to say Cyborg will come here too? Or Robin?" she snapped, looking at Starfire while saying this. She didn't tell anyone, but she felt terrible being the only one not in a relationship. Well, there was Más y Menos, but they were way too young for her. Speedy and Aqualad both had a girlfriend, but they never thought of the idea of bringing her to meet the Titans, or even tell them her name. And Beast Boy… even after all these years, she still couldn't feel the same as BB himself felt for her. She made that clear when he declared his love for her. Though, maybe, she could give him a chance sooner or later. Hopefully, later.

"No, you're lying on my hair." Bumblebee said, and then Raven noticed her feet indeed were lying onto Bee's hair. She silently retreated them, and muttered something along the lines of Kid Flash being a big dumb idiot. She was lucky Jinx hadn't heard Raven say this stuff about her boyfriend. Five minutes later, after everyone was finally ready to go to bed, Kid Flash zapped in, his sleeping bag under his arm, already changed in his Flash-pajamas. ("Classic," Raven had said sarcastically.)

"Am I too late to join in?" He asked, and Jinx smiled at him lovingly, making Raven roll her eyes. She and Jinx could get along very well, but since Jinx had announced she and Kid Flash are dating, the friendship between the two was slowly dying. Raven felt like she was becoming the third wheel, and that Jinx was pushing her away. Part of the problem was that Jinx and KF didn't notice that with his arrival, Raven was being ignored. And it didn't look like they were going to find out unless Raven would tell them.

"Off course not!" Jinx said, and Kid Flash lied down next to Jinx, and everyone fell fast asleep.

* * *

Ten for midnight. Starfire woke up, looking at the alarm clock. She had programmed it to the sound only her people could hear, because she didn't want to risk to wake anyone up. She silently climbed out of her sleeping bag, and stood up. Right now, it hadn't been a good idea to be lying farthest from the entrance. She flew silently to the entrance, ducking as the tent was too small to fly or even stand in, and went out without any of the girls waking up. Kid did roll over once, muttering something about ice cream, but it was nothing to be alarmed off.

When Starfire was outside, she flew up high, where she had full view of the area. She looked at the road, where the van still stood. Aqualad hadn't returned yet. Then, she turned her gaze to the village and began flying toward it. She kind of liked the village. It had something mysterious she would like to discover. She could feel the excitement of tomorrow, and secretly hoped it would take Aqualad another day to get those wheels, to learn more about the village of Rohan.

When flying, she noticed Cyborg and Beast Boy running away from the village, Beast Boy as a cheetah, Cyborg holding a small thing Star couldn't make it. Curious about what it could be, she landed close to them, trying to figure out what they were doing. She heard their conversation, but didn't walk up to them. She had a date with Robin, and she didn't want to be late.

Not that much later, she arrived at Rohan, and decided to do the last part of the journey on foot. When she walked up the market square, she expected Robin to already be there, but he wasn't. She started looking for him, and then she noticed a slight change: the statue of count Rohan was gone. It had just disappeared, just like Beast Boy once found out the Terra-statue was gone. She immediately turned around, expecting the same thing to happen. She readied her starbolts, and walked around in the village, looking around. Suddenly, the village had (sort of) become hostile to her.

Behind her, the stalls, she heard a noise. She turned and in an impulse shot a starbolt in that direction. When the view cleared, there was nothing to see, and Star continued her search. At one point, she stood on the road that brought her to Rohan, facing the market square, with behind her the woods. Before returning to tell Robin what she had found, she went to look on the market square one more time now. To be sure. Her eyes widened as she saw a horse standing there. She was reasonably sure there hadn't been a horse. Not at all. In the whole village and surroundings. She came closer, prepared for a possible fight.

Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her neck. She spun around to see a man standing there. He looked like a medieval nobleman, had cold dark eyes and curling brown hair that reached his shoulders. Also, the only skin that could be seen was just his face. One of his hands was close to where she had felt the pain. There was no glove on the hand, unlike the other one. As she studied him, she thought he might have destroyed the statue of count Rohan. However, she failed to notice the similarities between the nobleman and the statue of Rohan.

Every passing second, she began to grow weaker. She wanted to shoot one of her starbolts, but she couldn't. She used all her power to try and stay strong, to fight the man who had begun this fight. She didn't succeed though. She fell to the ground, and tried to get up, but it wouldn't work. She had grown too weak by then. She could feel someone – probably the man – pick her up and carry her away before slipping in the unconsciousness.

* * *

_Present_

Telling that Starfire had gone missing had a great impact on the other Titans. Everyone quickly changed clothes – Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy had been sleeping in their costumes for what they wanted to do tonight – and gathered around him, Cyborg and Beast Boy pretending like they didn't know about the disappeared statue. If they did, it was interrogation time with Robin. And whoever was to be interrogated by Robin, had back luck that day. He wouldn't stop until he knew the truth. Nobody wanted to be interrogated by the Boy Wonder.

"Dude! You don't even know where she is!" Beast Boy whined – he would really like to sleep right now. He'd been waken up by Cyborg already, he didn't also want Robin to make him walk around all night. Robin turned to the changeling.

"That's why we have to look. She can be everywhere, so start looking!"

"Maybe she needed to pee," Beast Boy shrugged. But even before saying this, Robin shook his head, as if expecting someone would say this. He's checked everywhere, everywhere she could be, and hadn't found her. That was suspicious. Plus, Robin wanted to see his girlfriend, to see if she was alright.

"I have checked the whole village and surroundings several times. If she was around, I would've seen her." He looked concerned around in the group.

"Then where is she?" Bumblebee asked, voicing everyone's main question.

"She could be everywhere," he said, and then shouted "Starfire!", followed by the others. They all shouted her name, used their powers to try and track her down, but it didn't work. Beast Boy had picked up her scent, but the trail stopped at the arch. Cyborg's scanners said she wasn't even there. Few minutes later, when BB still tried to figure out why her scent stopped at the gateway, Robin approached him. He already wanted to morph in a bird to fly out of there – he was more of a tyrant if it came to finding his lost girlfriend, almost as obsessive over her as Slade – but knew that if he flew away, Robins still would come to him, bit more angry. So he stayed on his place.

"Are you really sure you don't know where she is?" he asked the changeling. Beast Boy shook his head, but Robin kept questioning him.

"Are you really sure? Starfire and I would meet each other tonight. And I had a key, which disappeared. Just like the statue." Beast Boy looked up, surprised. Disappeared? He thought they broke it. Good news: they hadn't done anything. Bad news: Robin saw it was gone, so where was it then?

"It just disappeared? So, it wasn't broken?" he asked, somewhat relieved. Robin shook his head, feeling Beast Boy hid something. And Cyborg, who came here to meet up with Beast Boy to talk about the chest, saw his leader interrogating his friend. Feeling that couldn't be good for him, he walked up to the two. Robin continued his interrogation.

"Yes, it was gone, not broken. Are you sure you haven't seen her, 'cause you were both up and…" Cyborg grabbed Beast Boy's arm and tried to tell with his eye his green friend needed to shut up. Beast Boy, on his part, started to grow nervous, pressured by both his friend and leader.

"We have the _pretio_-chest-something." Cyborg face-palmed as Beast Boy said this, and turned his back to the leader, not wanting to face him - he was in big trouble now Beast Boy told their leader what they had. And he was right doing so. Robin got an angry look on his face. They did something to that statue. But, a part of him, kind of expected it; they were two of the most curious people he knew. He wasn't surprised if Beast Boy asked Cyborg to help him get that chest. "What?"

"Cyborg and I took the key out of your pocket, and we went to the square at midnight and -" he was interrupted by Robin.

"Go get it and meet me at the square. Now!" Beast Boy quickly ran away, going to get the chest, while Cyborg tried to beat his green friend upon arriving there. But Beast Boy was faster, and now held the chest, not wanting to give it to Cyborg, and continued by going to the square, where the others were already waiting. Beast Boy looked to where the statue of Rohan once stood. Robin hadn't been lying when he said the statue really was gone.

"So, Beast Boy, tell us what happened here?" Robin asked his friend, arms crossed. Beast Boy looked around the group, nervously. he knew he'd better tell them everything, so he took a breath before beginning to tell them the truth.

"Well, first he took you key, and then we came here because Cy said the chest was filled with gold and-" Cyborg interrupted his friend.

"Hey, why're you making me the bad guy?" Beast Boy looked at his friend. He told BB that he hadn't done anything? He was the cause of this in the first place! If anyone had to be the bad guy, it was Cyborg.

"Dude, it totally was your fault!"

"What? That's ridiculous! It's all just a game, that's all!" Cyborg retorted. He didn't know what to do, being the villain here at once.

"And how do you want to explain that," Robin pointed to where Rohan once stood, "that was made from stone and now it's gone. Those can't just break," At this point, Robin's mind went haywire of worry. Somebody had to be the cause Starfire was gone, and the two culprits were standing in front of him, "you two did this. You two are the reason Starfire is missing!" when Robin screamed this, Beast Boy had pointed to Cyborg. He'd done it because of blackmail, not out of his free will.

"Rob, now you're going nuts. See, we only took this chest. _You_ are the one to let her walk around here at midnight. What kind of a boyfriend are you?" That was true. The date at midnight was completely his cause, not Beast Boy's, not Cyborg's. Completely his own. He opened his mouth to say something back, but someone else was first.

"Guys, fighting like this won't lead us to Star," Bumblebee said. They needed to go over all possibilities, plan out, try and find her, the usual stuff when a Titan went missing. They didn't give up the hope – they wouldn't dare to. They defeated the frickin' Brotherhood of Evil and many more, so they should be able to find the alien princess. She couldn't be _that_ far away from them, could she?

"Guys, look what I found!" Jinx called out. The other heroes ran to where she was, and somehow ended up at that arch again. In her hand, she held a sort or red thread. But if you looked closer, it almost looked like hair…

"Oh boy, Lucky found a thread!" Speedy said. They all had taken over Kid's nickname for Jinx, but they hardly ever used them. And now, Speedy had said it, and next moment, he found himself in the bushes near the arch just as Jinx' eyes glowed pink and shot a hex at him. She looked rather angry at him.

"It's not a thread, idiot, it's hair! Star's hair," she said, glaring at the archer. Robin's eyes widened and came closer to the sorceress. He took the hair in his hand, and put it in his pocket. The only piece of her they could find now. He would keep it, he decided the moment he realized it was Starfire's. It might keep him sane, might give him hope. He let his eyes slid over the arch. _Trames septem pecatorum_. The unknown path of seven sins. If they were to walk it, what dangers would they find, what would they have to sacrifice in order to get further, what would be tested? Because, like every path, something had to be tested.

Then, Robin noticed something at the side. That they hadn't noticed this before! He walked to it and started to read it at first. It was a rhyme, poetry, but not the kind you would find published. This looked more like… a warning? A guide? He turned his head, only to see his friends waiting for him to read it out loud. He took a breath, and then read it:

_When you start the battle hotheaded, know that you will loose._

_If you're seduced by glory and desire, know for whom you choose._

_Whoever lingers on the path, will never reach the end, _

_neither who would rather fill mouth or pouch, or can only dreams of themselves._

_An envy-poisoned heart will also fossilize wi-_

"Eh, dude, what does…" Beast Boy began, but Cyborg interrupted him.

"It means turning into stone," he answered, knowing Beast Boy was talking about 'fossilizing'. The changeling shrugged as if he didn't really care. Robin shook his head and continued to read.

_- will also fossilize without pain._

_Only who can resist them all, can bring this evil to justice._

_Remember with all you will do, keep your heart filled with love and courage._

As Robin finished this, they all heard something they identified as breaking glass. They stepped back, all except for Robin, who kept watching the arch. Where they had to walk through for leaving this village, it cracked. No, there was no glass. But with the cracking, a purple light emerged from it, almost resembling to a purple mirror. It looked very suspicious, very wrong and, according to some, very evil. Yet, Robin thought it was nothing but the thing that would lead him to his girl. He could never explain _how_ he got to think that – he just knew. He lifted his arm, almost touching it, but a hand stopped him. It was Kid Flash's.

Robin could see the worry in Kid's eyes, a worry he would never say out loud. And though Kid couldn't see Robin's eyes, he knew the bird was worried as well.

"What are you doing?" he asked. He didn't trust the arch, he didn't trust the purple light, he didn't trust this village. He'd closed his eyes several times, hoping this was just a bad dream. (not a nightmare – his nightmares were much worse) He didn't need to wait too long for his answer.

"Going to find Starfire." Robin freed himself from the speedster's hold and looked all those time at the arch. With his hand in front of him, he touched the purple light. It just felt like… nothing. He felt nothing, just the air. He stepped closer and closer, until he ultimately went through it. The others followed, some hesitantly, some excited. Speedy and Cyborg now were the last ones to get through. Speedy shifted nervously on his feet. This whole situation felt wrong, now all them were somewhere he didn't want to go. He was ashamed of himself, not daring to go into the mysterious, but he knew it was right if he just stayed here - it could keep him out of trouble.

"Somebody has to stay here," Speedy said, hoping he didn't have to get through that arch-portal-thing, "you know, if Aqualad decides to show up this night. Someone has to explain to him where the others are." Before he could run away, Cyborg grabbed him by the collar and shook his head. If one of them was in 'trouble', then all of them were in 'trouble'. Including Speedy.

"Oh, no way, you're going with us," he said before pushing Speedy through the arch and finally walking through it himself, looking back to Rohan one more time, hoping this should be over soon.

* * *

**That was it. What do you think they'll find at the other side? Next update is due on August 19th. ****Please review; I really want to know if you like it or not... Anyway, on with the reviews:**

**Puck x 'Brina4ever** (Off course KF wouldn't cheat on Jinx! And thank you - I do this all on my own)

**-DutchWriters2**


	8. The girl again

The next thing they saw, was that they weren't in the village anymore. Or the place they once could call a safe heaven until Starfire mysteriously disappeared. They were on top of a hill, looking out over the world around them, which certainly wasn't their own. There was a path, leading only one way, and that was next to a forest, with dead vegetation, which Robin recognized as the forest of his dream. Everyone gaped at the surroundings. They never had seen anything like this before. The peace, the quite, nobody around but them… "Aqualad should've seen this," Speedy muttered so only he could hear it. Some of them thought it should be easy to find Starfire here, but after going through the arch/portal, Robin seriously doubted if they were ever going to. The woods were most placed in the west, the way the path led to, as far as he could see, and only somebody with very good eyes could see the castle in the ultimate west.

"Starfire!" Robin cried out. Behind him, he heard Kid Flash's voice, laughing.

"What the hell are we wearing? How the hell do we look?" he exclaimed, looking at his outfit. The others hadn't even noticed they had a change of clothes by running blindly through that portal. Robin wore no longer his old uniform (though he still wore his mask) but something every peasant would wear. Beast Boy had a normal skin and blonde hair, dressed up like the joker from a set of cards, holding a bag that contained the chest. Kid Flash was dressed up like a knight, Speedy like a hunter, but without any bow or arrow. Cyborg looked completely human, no metal in sight anywhere, dressed up like a merchant. The type that would let you pay more than needed for the product. And the three girls, well… they just looked like any lady would look like, although Raven looked more like a sorceress.

"Since there's nothing out here, why don't we just go out and find us some nice place to stay?" Kid Flash asked Jinx, who smiled at him. Off course she would accept.

"Sounds good, Kid," With these words, she and her boyfriend walked away, Raven following them closely. She still didn't like being the third wheel, but this place was boring, so she had decided to follow the lovebirds. Robin heard this, and turned to them.

"Wait, where are you going? Starfire could be here somewhere, and we'll find her faster if everybody is looking for her." Jinx shrugged.

"If she was here, you would've seen her already. I won't be standing here doing nothing," she said, walking away with Raven and Kid Flash. In the meantime, Cyborg was looking at his human self. Unbelievable, he thought. It was real, not an illusion, not a hologram. When he looked up after hearing Beast Boy scream, his eyes widened. It wasn't the green skinned boy he saw, but the boy from before the accident that had caused his change. Then, he noticed the bag with the chest. Forgetting about everything else, he walked up to BB.

"Just give that to me," he said, waiting for the changeling to give him the chest. Beast Boy hesitated, looking back and forth from Cyborg to the chest. There had to be a reason he suddenly was holding the chest. Then, a smile appeared on his face. "No!" the shape-shifter said, seeing Cy's surprised expression. Deciding he would try to get the chest back, he tried to defend the best he could.

"What's wrong with you?" Cyborg suddenly stopped, and both friends turned their heads to a clearly worried Bumblebee. Her hair still was the same, and her wings were gone. Cyborg stammered, not able to get out whole words, giving BB the change to get the bag away from his friends, holding it close as f he cuddled a teddy bear. Bee turned and followed Raven, Kid and Jinx off the hill.

"Uh, wait, Bee, where are you going?" Cyborg called out.

"Finding a prince instead of a frog. Now happy?" she said, turning around, following the trio. Beast Boy and Cyborg watched them go. Beast Boy shook his head.

"Girls, eh?" he said, holding the bag not so tightly anymore. Cyborg stood next to him, slightly leaning over to his best friend, coming closer to the bag. He nodded.

"Yeah, they're quite a handful." With a quick move, he snatched away the bag from Beast Boy and ran back to the arch/portal. Alarmed by a shout from BB, Robin and Speedy turned around, only to see Cyborg running away with the chest. They ran after him, but even without their powers, Cyborg was the fastest (being the oldest). Just a few more feet, and then he would be safe in Rohan, trying to open the chest with the key. He didn't really think of the fact that Robin had taken away the key from Beast Boy. He ran straight through the portal…

…only to be on the other side of the arch in this world they had walked in thanks to Robin.

Cyborg stood there, rather angry and confused, muttering some curses under his breath. He should've been in Rohan by now! Was that stupid portal broken? Robin walked up to him.

"Give it back to Beast Boy," the Boy Wonder demanded. The two of them glared at each other, until Cyborg against his will handed the bag over to Beast Boy. The young ex-sidekick looked around, but he still couldn't see anyone, except his friends down the hill and Speedy, Beast Boy and Cyborg next to him.

"Starfire should be close, so we just have to find her and get her out of there," Robin said and began to walk away. The others, hearing the authority in Robin's voice, followed him – Robin didn't want to hear any 'no' at the moment. They were about to leave this part of this world, until a familiar voice stopped them.

"_Wait…_" the group turned to the voice, and the saw the girl from previous night – the girl in the fire. She still wore her blue cape, and had the same long brown hair as yesterday. Her voice sounded as if she was far away from them, yet almost close enough. Speedy told himself not to faint this time, though his face grew pale again. Beast Boy jumped up seeing this girl, wondering how the others knew her already and he didn't.

"Told you it wasn't me!" Beast Boy exclaimed happily, though he sounded a bit scared, seeing this mysterious girl for the first time. The girl spoke up.

"_Starfire is not here. I gave you the key, Robin, as Rohan took your powers. Bring the chest to the castle. You're our last hope._" They all stared at her in awe, confused by her words. Why did they have to bring the chest to the castle, if they could open it up right here? And she said 'our last hope', so who was/were the other(s) then? All these questions ran through their minds, and Robin had a speculation for the latter. He shook his head, confused by the other questions. Yet, they could understand one thing she said.

"So our powers are gone?" Beast Boy whined. Nobody answered, because it only was logical. Cyborg was human, Beast Boy no longer was green and Kid hadn't run away holding Jinx. Robin got closer to the girl.

"_What do you mean? Where is Starfire?_" He demanded. He got angrier with every passing second. Why didn't she just tell him where she was, so he could swoop in and rescue Star (alongside the others). But, like anyone would, he hid his anger perfectly. That's the result of living with the Bat a large time of your life.

"_She is with count Rohan,_" she answered. How unbelievable it sounded, the count really came to life and had captured Starfire. "_Go and make haste, Robin. You must reach the castle before sunset._" Everyone looked at the girl. Speedy seemed to take it calmly, although his pale face told them something else, Beast Boy hid he was utterly terrified and Cyborg saw it as a sick joke.

"But why did he take Starfire? It doesn't make any sense," Robin asked, not letting his eyes go off the girl. Not that he liked her, but he stared at her to make sure she couldn't disappear in the middle of a conversation without the needed information, which is just what he wanted to know. The girl looked sad when she explained why.

"_Rohan needs seven girls to turn his heart into stone. Six girl are already stoned, and Starfire is the last. If you don't reach the castle before sunset, and if you don't open the chest there, she will also turn into stone._"

"Why does he ant to turn his heart into stone? Pretty lame if you ask me," Cyborg said.

"_Because he doesn't believe in true love anymore,_" that was, once again, confusing. The heartless count once believed in true love? "_Go and don't give in to the sins on the path. If you do, you will turn into stone, too._" With this, the girl disappeared. Robin ran up to where the girl was supposed to be. He needed more information. He needed to know what they could expect, if Star was alright.

"No, wait! Come back here!" he screamed, but was already gone. That was when Speedy opened his mouth.

"T-That's her! T-The girl I killed!" Robin put a hand on his shoulder.

"Speedy, I don't believe you killed her. The way she dresses, how she acts… it seems more like she's been dead for a while. You don't have to blame yourself for her death." Speedy opened his mouth, but shut it again, as he didn't know what to say. Though, he felt really relieved now. He hadn't killed anyone. He wasn't a killer. He wasn't accused of anything. He sighed.

"What is this for a stupid game?" Cyborg wondered, laughing. He certainly didn't believe whatever they had set up, though he just witnessed it himself. Robin just wanted to make this sudden stop more pleasant by asking Raven to create this world, creating the statue and the whole legend himself, again, with Raven's help. Or, that's what he thought that had happened. Beast Boy, Speedy and Robin looked at him in disbelief, and a bonus was an angry-looking Robin.

"This is real, Cyborg," he said, already wanting to walk the path. The faster they began, the quicker this would be over, and the faster he would be able to hold Starfire again. He, Beast Boy and Speedy followed their leader, but Cyborg didn't, stubborn as he was.

"Yeah, and so is Easter," Cyborg said jokingly. Well he meant it as a joke, but it came out harsh, uncaring, unbelieving. This time, the whisper of his conscious, his original personality, wasn't there. He was left on his own to handle the ex-sidekick.

"Don't you understand?" Robin shouted angrily, being fed-up with Cyborg's uncharacteristic behavior, "we need to walk this path of seven sins, or else Starfire will turn into stone!" He looked at the sun, telling them it was some time after sunrise. To think it had been midnight in the village! But now they're got the whole day to travel to the castle in the far distance. He narrowed his eyes.

Time to go.

"We need to leave now. Titans, go!" he said, and started to walk the path – he called it walking, the others would call it running, closely followed by Beast Boy and Speedy. Before following, Beast Boy snatched the bag away from Cyborg and held it up teasingly, so Cyborg should see it. What the changeling wanted to say was simple. If you don't follow, you don't get the chest.

Cyborg looked from his friends to the arch and eventually decided to follow them, not wanting to stay behind in this probably hostile universe.

* * *

** Nothing much to say here. Next update is due on August 24th. ****Please review; I really want to know if you liked it or not...**

**-DutchWriters2**


	9. A Gigantic game of mikado

They've just walked ten minutes in silence, until Beast Boy broke it. He had been bored when they arrived in the village and hadn't really paid attention when Bee told them what they were, and he knew that Robin should remember them. If not, then Cyborg probably wou:d. So he asked the question that's been bothering him past minutes.

"So, eh… what are those sins again?" he asked, rubbing his head. Robin started to sum up the sins he remembered Bee had said.

"Anger… something with eating too much, eh, gluttony…" he was interrupted by Speedy.

"Hey, remember that message at the arch? I'm beginning to think those are clues to figure them out."

"You're right. We might get some answers – _When you start the battle hotheaded, know that you will lose. If you're seduced by glory and desire, know for whom you choose. Whoever lingers on the path, will never rea-_"

"Very impressive, Rob!" Cyborg commented. Robin shot an angry look at the former metal man. Hd absolutely didn't like his attitude at all. For now, he only waited for the right moment to catch that bag with the chest. Robin didn't doubt that when Cy got his hands on the chest, he would abandon them.

"Yeah, but what exactly are those sins?" Beast Boy wanted to know, and Robin opened his mouth to answer, until he heard something. It sounded like the beating of a heart, something they all recognized from their fights with Kardiak. Cyborg, Beast Boy and Speedy heard it as well, as they all looked around, expecting the giant metallic heart to show up. Yet, it didn't come - there were no kids at all - and the 'heart' kept beating. Beast Boy looked at the chest. Maybe… he kept his ear closed to the chest, before pulling away, screaming. He heard that something _inside_ the chest was beating.

"I don't know what it is, but comes from in here!" he threw the chest to the ground, scared like hell, and it fell at Speedy's feet. Instead of picking it up, Speedy backed away. The beating was something he couldn't explain, and if that happened, he rather would be as far away as he liked. Cyborg saw the bag fall, and already went to grab the chest. But Robin was just a little faster. Cyborg wasn't that happy the team leader had _his_ chest. He had it first, so it had to be his, right?

"Hey, that's mine!" Cyborg exclaimed as he saw Robin held the chest. He shook his head.

"Greed is one of the sins, so it's better you don't have this at all," Robin said. The girl had warned that they couldn't give in to the sins, so it was better for Cyborg not to have the chest, or he might turn into stone.

"What does greed do _exactly_?" Speedy wanted to know. Robin looked back at Cyborg, trying to seek help from Beast Boy, who just shook his head. Robin wouldn't let the metal man come too close to the chest. They didn't know what would happen if Cyborg was greedy and had the chest, so it was better they kept it away from him.

"Look at Cyborg," Robin simply answered, "then you'll see it." Now, Speedy looked at Cyborg. He looked at the man as if he were some random piece of dirt.

"I get that one. I bet he'll even sell the T-car for money!" Now, Cyborg looked really offended, jaw droppeed. Nobody was _ever_ to touch his baby, so why would he ever think about sell her? Speedy continued, "or even Bee! You know what's stupid? Being a friend of yours! Because you a-" Suddenly, he stopped talking. Like he thought about something. Robin asked what's wrong.

"Isn't fighting one of those sin-thingies?" Actually, Robin didn't think of that. _Was_ fighting part of these sins? He noticed they were all three looking at him, so he had to answer quickly. As far as his knowledge about it went (not that far) he couldn't identify 'fighting' and in which sin it was, or just wasn't.

"I think so, it might be part of…" he paused, and realized he actually didn't know. He'd better be honest about it - they might start not to trust him anymore if he lied, "I don't know." Cyborg scolded.

"First time you don't know a thing about something!"

"Shut up!" That was Speedy, an angry look on their face. They came closer to each other. Beast Boy grew nervous thanks to their behavior.

"Shut up yourself."

"Dudes, peace, please!" Beast Boy exclaimed. If it went on like this, their small group of eight would be torn apart. Or, if they found the other four, it would be torn apart. And he knew Robin was searching for the others, too. They were out of his sight, and he didn't hear anything that could give them a clue where Kid, Jinx, Raven and Bee were. He turned to the others again.

"Where are the others?" he asked.

"Oh, they'll be fine! You know them, Flinx is probably with themselves, and Bumblebee and Raven probably try to talk with each other, no big deal!" Beast Boy said, still keeping a close eye on Speedy and Cyborg. Robin nodded at BB's response. That probably was it. They continued walking, Cyborg a bit angrier than he already was, and Beast Boy kept also an eye on the chest, which Robin now carried with him. _How long should it take to get to the castle and how so, path of seven sins? If it really was such a path, there should be some sort of task or test,_ Cyborg thought.

Little did he know the first task was about to come up sooner then he thought.

* * *

In less than five minutes, they reached their first obstacle. When Beast Boy saw it, he immediately called it a 'gigantic super mega hyper game of mikado'. In a way, he was right. It was a construction made from a lot of spears, with many standing perpendicular, vertical, horizontal and oblique. They stopped next to it and Robin examined it. It seemed normal, but there probably was a reason for it standing there, next to the path they had to walk. Odd was that it stood _next_ to the path, and not on the path. Did they have a choice, playing the game or simply ignoring it? Yet, it didn't seem like they had a choice, for they never chose to walk this path.

Then, something caught Robin's eye. In the middle of the construction hung a key. Way bigger than the one Robin found in his pockets yesterday, with a bronze color instead of a golden one. He got the feeling somebody had to take it – that it might come handy later. As if they needed it further on.

"Guys, look! A key," Speedy shouted, just seconds after Robin realized what hung there. Beast Boy and Cyborg now saw the key as well. Beast Boy scratched his head.

"Yeah, it's a plain old key. So what?" Robin approached the construction, still at a good distance away from it (you never know), and pointed at the key.

"We might need it. Don't ask me how I know, I just got this feeling." Robin said, avoiding Beast Boy's next possible question. Cyborg snorted; going through this construction, getting the key and getting out was very simple. A bit too easy, but he ignored that fact. Besides, he too thought there was an option, and he actually just wanted to go around it and continue this stupid path, but now, he might as well show off.

"I'll go and get it. It's gonna be easy." in his head, he added a lot of bad names. Robin shook his head, an emotionless expression on his face as he watched Cyborg approach the construction. Suddenly, a spear appeared, shooting out of the ground, precisely between Cyborg's legs, just inches away from a hurtful place. Cyborg, who didn't see that coming, stood there, watching the spear, making sure it hadn't gone any further. Robin walked up to him, a smile on his face. Not that he liked it. He just was right - that it couldn't be too simple.

"Is it easy now, Cy?" Cyborg stepped away, not saying anything. Beast Boy, feeling that one of them had to go next, immediately started to protest. He didn't even want to think about trying to go in and get the key. Why would he, if there still were two others left who could easily go in? According to Beast Boy, Cyborg couldn't go in because he was the biggest.

"Dude, no way that I'm going in there! I want to keep these guys safe, if you know what I mean." The blonde boy said.

"Yeah, I'm not going in there either," Speedy said, convinced by the spear that almost pierced Cy's crotch. Robin sighed. _Every time_ _I have to do everything myself, do I?_ He put down the chest and walked cautiously to the contraption. He passed the spear that almost touched Cyborg, and now he had to do the real hard work. Yeah, seems easy, passing a lot of big sticks that reached higher than most humans to finally reach the key and return. It's becoming a lot harder when random spear - one you might not even have seen, hidden in the ground - decides to rig you onto it without any warning. Robin looked at his friends. Speedy and Beast Boy stood at a safe distance from the 'gigantic game of mikado', and Cyborg… as he tried to find Cyborg, he saw him running away, continuing on the path. He abandoned his team. _He abandons the team?_

"Hey, Cy, come back, we have to do this together!" Robin shouted, and a horizontal spear almost hit his side. _Stay calm. Don't make any sudden moves, just calmly going in._ Easier thought than done when you could be killed by each and every step taken. He took one step forth, and nothing happened. Another cautious step, and again nothing to be afraid. Then, he carefully tried two steps. And two spears appeared. None of them saw that coming.

"I'm sure there are certain rules bound to this game," Robin said, more to himself than to Speedy and Beast Boy. He got a response, however.

"And those are?" Beast Boy wanted to know. Robin shook his head.

"I don't know, but maybe it has to go quickly," he said, going in quicker, thinkking that Kid Flash could have been handy if he still had his speed, avoiding any and all contact with the spears. Not that they seemed dangerous, just think bamboo sticks with a sharp pointy piece of metal attached to it, but his instincts told him better not to touch any of that metal. This time, three spears appeared after just ducking and passing one that hung low. Robin got angry. What the hell was up with this task?

"What am I doing wrong?" he shouted, and one almost got his right foot. Speedy and Beast Boy were reacting as if this was some exciting game of football where the players could die. They sometimes even encouraged him to go on. If they just would shut up, those… _calm down, Robin, stay cool. Remember the arch-message, It might be helpful. Alright, how did it go again? Eh, __When you start the battle hothea__- _Then, it hit him._ Hotheaded. Hotheaded. That's it! Okay, when are people hotheaded? When they are…_

"Angry," Robin said out loud, coming with the solution, "Guys, I got it. This is anger!" He remembered the official name was wrath, but he wanted to avoid the question what that word meant, Beast Boy being very simple-minded. Now all he had to do, is stay calm, not to get angry at all, and then, he might get out with the key, alive. Thought it was just a few feet ahead of him, the closer he got to the middle, the harder it was to actually get there. There were more spears there than at the edge. Beast Boy and Speedy were glad they knew it was anger. And now? They knew which sin, but what are the exact rules of this task? Being angry, or not? To Beast Boy, it was rather simple – it's anger, so fighting would be okay to do.

Oh boy, was he wrong.

"Hey Speedy, who are you supposed to be, Robin Hood?" Beast Boy shouted, making both Speedy and Robin look at him. The one to stare longest at Beast Boy, was Speedy, for Robin still hadn't reached the key.

"What are you trying to do? Insult me?" Speedy asked, getting angry. He didn't mind if someone compared him to that archer, but if someone called him Robin - even if it was Robin Hood - he got angry. He was Speedy, nobody else.

"Anger, so fighting!" BB explained, and Speedy got it – they were going to fight to make it easier for Robin, "What kind of an archer are you, if you even don't have bow and arrows?"

"Look at you, you look like you've run away from a set of cards! Wanna help the Joker?"

"What? No! Why would I wanna help out that dude! Maybe you'd better help him."

"I won't, but I'm only saying you look a lot like one of his henchmen? Are you by any chance his son?"

"I am not related to the Joker or his sort of girl in any way thinkable!"

"Denial, good job, BB, now I know for sure you're family."

"Dude, we're not related! We're not family!"

"CAN YOU TWO PLEASE SHUT UP!?" Speedy and Beast Boy had not even noticed Robin was still with them. They turned to look how he was doing, and saw he was in a weird situation. It looked like he was close to be imprisoned by those sticks, and if he turned to the wrong side at the wrong height, he could be touched by one of those spears. One even blocked out their view of Robin's nose. The two decided not to say anything – at least, not until Robin got the damn key. That might be better for the three of them. Robin tried to turn his head and noticed that he could grab it, if he could get his arm freed. He slowly pulled, pushed, and tried not to touch anything that was metal, and finally, his arm was free. He reached out for the key, and noticed he had been wrong. If he could use his arm, he could almost reach the key. He leaned a bit forward, and could almost feel the key on the top of his fingers. Just a few more…

_Clang!_ Robin held the key in his hand and pulled his arm back to his body. Beast Boy and Speedy cheered for him, as he tried to get out of there. Within five minutes, Robin got out of the construction and Beast Boy and Speedy tackled him into a hug. They congratulated him for doing it for them, because, to be honest, if Robin failed, they would not even think of trying to get that key.

Robin looked at the chest. Or where it was supposed to be, since it was gone. And he already knew who had it. Cyborg. Who else could it possibly be? He must have seen the chest was not guarded and just took it with him. _That greedy_- Robin cut off his own thoughts. They still stood near the construction, and he knew from experience that even the smallest angry thought could kill you in an instant if you didn't watch out. He calmed himself down, (or at least tried to) and Beast Boy and Speedy knew what he was thinking about.

"Let's move on! We can't rest now! Cyborg's got the chest and time is running out for Star!" Robin shouted, remembering about Starfire, who was locked up in a castle waiting for her prince to arrive – much like in a fairytale, actually. Except that Robin wasn't a prince, and that Starfire and all of them were in mortal danger. He ran away from the test of anger, following the path, that could lead him to Cyborg and Starfire. Speedy and Beast Boy followed the leader immediately. They did not want to be left behind by a contraption that could kill when you was angry.

Knowing that anger was a giant game of mikado, what could the other six be?

* * *

**Robin was so close to being killed/turned into stone... He had luck this time. And Cyborg's got the chest back! Next update is due on August 29th. ****Please review; I really want to know if you like it or not... Anyway, on with the reviews:**

**Puck x 'Brina4ever** (Ooh, thank you! And yes, it's a beautiful song. Try 'go the distance' by Michael Bolton - I listened to this song when I got this story idea)

**Penelope Rohdes** (thanks! I don't know yet if there will be a sequel, but I will let you know if I'm doing that one)

**-DutchWriters2**


	10. Sad Bee, Greedy Cy

Bumblebee, Kid Flash and Jinx were walking the path, through the forest. At this point, some trees and bushes were dead, and some weren't. Yet, the three of them didn't notice as they were too busy with their love. Raven already had gone ahead, saying she needed some time for herself. In the knowledge she had to meditate in order to keep her emotions in line, they let her go. Yet, Kid and Jinx failed to understand Raven has had it with them and the other lovers, and needed some time alone.

Behind them, they heard someone running to them. They turned around and saw that someone was actually coming towards them. The closer this person got, the more the three could recognize him. It was one other than the completely humanized Cyborg. A smile appeared on Bee's face as she saw her boyfriend running towards them. He slowed down only when he came closer to the small group. However, though glad to see her boyfriend, she could feel something was wrong with him. He pulled her into a hug and after that, immediately insisted on continuing to walk this Path. Speaking of strange.

"Wait a second! What changed your mind?" she said as Cyborg kept insisting to continue. At first, he didn't really got what she meant. Then, he remembered what happened at the arch. And why Bee had walked along with Raven, Kid and Jinx.

"Hey, listen, I'm sorry, okay? I admit I acted strange, even for me, but I'm sorry." Luckily for him, she believed it. "Let's go on. I wanna get outta here," he added. The faster they were at the finish line, the better. The memory of that spear almost in the lower part of his body… it was still fresh, and if the other tests were as violent as that one, he'd rather sleep in Beast Boy's stinking room than having to pass one of those tests. He took her hand and started to continue this path – he wouldn't want Robin, Speedy and Beast Boy to catch up on him. Behind them, Kid Flash and Jinx had decided they'd better follow them, instead of waiting for the others.

"Hey, Cyborg, does it normally take long for Raven to meditate?" Kid Flash asked after walking not more than a minute. Cyborg shrugged. Why should he know that? Nobody was allowed in her room when she meditated, maybe except for Starfire, and even then, she stayed there most of her time.

"I dunno. Why do you ask?" Cyborg asked. Kid Flash shifted nervously, and Jinx' eyes widened.

"Just wanted to know," he replied, and tried to avoid any contact with the dark-skinned man. Cyborg didn't really understand what happened to Raven. Maybe Kid had scared her away – or maybe she still was mad at him for hitting her with a stupid timer. However, the look in their eyes let Cyborg know that the fact that she still was mad at him, wasn't it. But if that wasn't why she was nowhere to be seen, what was?

"What is that?" Bee suddenly asked and Cyborg turned to his girl. She was looking at BB's bag, still with the chest in it, and Bee had finally found out that was why he went ahead of the others to reunite with his girl and the other lovebirds – because he had the chest in his hands. The only thing he really had wanted ever since they had arrived in the village. Cyborg looked at the bag. He was caught, but that didn't mean he had to give up the bag. Noboy was in the position to take it away from him again.

"That's BB's bag," Cyborg said. Bumblebee looked at him as if he'd done something wrong.

"Yeah, I know what it is," she said. Kid and Jinx stepped forward, as did Cy, but Bee didn't move. Cyborg was immediately worried about her. Being greedy didn't mean that he wasn't worried about another's well-being anymore. Especially when that 'another' was his girlfriend.

"Bee, you're coming? Oh, have I said or done something wrong again?" he asked. Kid put his hand onto Cyborg's shoulder, as if to comfort him. He understood Cyborg wasted the chance Bee had given him by bringing Beast Boy's bag with the chest.

"What do you have with that stupid chest, Cyborg!? What is wrong with you?" she said, and with these words, she turned around and walked away. Cyborg called her back, but she didn't actually come back. That was quite painful. _What's wrong with wanting to have some money?_ Apparently, quite bad. Even Kid and Jinx already left him, some feet away walking down the path, coming closer to the end with every step.

"I'm only carrying Beast Boy's bag!" he called out, desperately, but she didn't turn around . Heck, she didn't even look back at him! Seeing no other option, he turned around as well and started to follow the lovebirds down the path. They didn't seem in the mood to talk to him, but fine – he just had an argument with his girl, nothing to be worried about. Wrong.

Before really going back, Bumblebee looked one more time over her shoulder, and saw that Cyborg just walked away behind Kid Flash and Jinx. He didn't even look back! She continued going back; yet, she didn't realize that if she just waited some longer with walking back, she could've caught Cyborg looking back to her, without the intention to turn around and face his three angry teammates. So, short story a bit shorter told, Bee got back to Robin, Beast Boy and Speedy, being mad at Cy because he was greedy again and stole the chest back.

Bumblebee didn't think about going back to the stupid guy she could call her boyfriend. At some occasions, she would look back to see if Cyborg had followed her back to apologize for stealing Beast Boy's bag and the chest, and really meaning what he said. But every time she looked back, there was no-one to be seen, only the path she walked. She didn't know how to feel, but it felt most as if Cyborg broke up with her.

* * *

In the distance, Robin, Speedy and Beast Boy were running down the path. They wanted the chest back, rather as quick as possible, and because Cyborg probably ran quickly to get away from them, they had to run as well. Bee didn't look up when they stopped in front of her - those were the only others to be there. The three of them noticed she had been crying. It wasn't that much, but she had been crying. At the moment, she tried to hold her tears back. Being the strong woman she was, she would be okay, whatever it was that caused this.

"Hey Bee, what's wrong with you?" Speedy asked his team leader. He was concerned about her and the others, though it wasn't that great to see your leader cry over something.

"Cyborg's got the chest," she said, and Robin frowned; _so he did have the chest_. Not that big of a surprise, but he couldn't do anything to it without the key in Robin's pocket. Not the one they snatched away at the giant game of mikado, but the one he and Star found. the bronze one was way too big to fit on the chest anyway.

"All he cares about is money and I got away and he didn't even go after me… What's wrong with him?" Bee asked Robin, concerned about his boy. She knew him well, not as well as the ones he lived with, but good enough to tell something was wrong with him. She only couldn't point out what it was. She thought it was the fault of the village and this world, in which she was right, and if it could change the man of her dreams, what could it do with the others? Robin shrugged, signaling he didn't know what had gotten into him.

"I want to go home," Bee suddenly said, as if she couldn't take it anymore. Robin had to admit, he wanted to go home as well, but not without Starfire. Or else this effort (though it wasn't that much) had been for nothing.

"Yeah, dude, even kicking Doctor Light's butt is better than this," Beast Boy added. He was hungry, he was tired, and Robin didn't let them take a break because they had to reach the castle before sunset. Off course BB would want to give up now.

"We can't go home, guys. We appear to be stuck in this dimension," Robin said, looking at the way ahead of them, not wanting to face sad Beast Boy and Bumblebee. Speedy shook his head. They didn't really know how to comfort someone, did they? Beast Boy naturally wasn't the most sensitive person in the world, and Speedy thought Robin just didn't know how to comfort someone, being trained by - probably - the most serious person in the whole universe. He stepped towards his team's leader.

"Look, Bee, about Cyborg – if I were a girl, I wouldn't even _think_ about dating him," Bumblebee suddenly got a vicious look in her eyes - nobody said that about her Sparky. Speedy flinched slightly, "Okay, I know it's not the good time to say that, but I know he loves you very much. I bet that Rohan did something to us when we arrived here. I mean, Beast Boy normally isn't that serious as now, Cyborg is not greedy at all and, to be honest, Robin normally doesn't get angry _that_ quickly." Robin opened his mouth to say something in his defense, but Beast Boy's hand covered his mouth. _Don't ruin this moment._ Robin decided he would get back on Speedy with that. Just, not yet now.

"What I want to say is…" Speedy began again, "he loves you very much. Heck, even more than his precious car. I can see it every time he looks at you. When we cross him, you will make excuses, and we'll force Cyborg to do the same. That okay with you?" Bumblebee nodded.

"But what about going home?" She said, not sure if they would ever go home. Speedy shrugged.

"I know the Boy Wonder can find a way out of here. And if he can't, I will. I wanna go home as much as you do," he suddenly pulled Bumblebee in his arms, closing her in a hug, comforting her, "Everything will be okay by the end of this stupid way. Got it?" Bee nodded again, still looking sad about the current circumstances. Speedy let go of her and put his hand under Bee's chin, so she had to look at the only team-mate that came with the others to this cruel life-changing world.

"Pull that frown upside down. You look nicer when you laugh," Speedy said, and the both of them smiled. Suddenly, Speedy turned around, now facing Robin and Beast Boy, completely ruining the moment he had built with Bee.

"So, are we going or not? The faster we're done here, the faster we can go home!" he said, and started to walk the path again, leaving the three others in confusion. Bee was the first to recover, and followed the archer down the path. Beast Boy and Robin naturally didn't want to lose them as well as the others, and went along with them. Not much later, Beast Boy pulled his leader closer.

"And when we catch up with Cy, we rob the chest back," Beast Boy whispered, and Robin nodded. He was against any form of robbing and stealing – weren't all heroes? – yet it was important. They needed it to get Starfire back. If they had to open it in the castle at sunset, then they would have to do it. He put his hand in his pocket and felt the hair. He started to fiddle with it and could only imagine what the count was doing to her right now…

* * *

**So, that was that! I loved writing this chapter! I hope you like it as much as I do! ****I know it's kinda rushed, but this was more of a filler, yet not quite unimportant. ****Next update is due on September 3rd. ****Please review; I really want to know if you like it or not...**

**-DutchWriters2**


	11. Escape route nr 4

_In the castle - Starfire_

When Starfire woke up, she had no idea where she was, and how she had gotten there. When she looked around, she could see she was in a large room, almost as big as her own, but without the stuff that needed electricity to go on with; instead of lamps, there were candles, and many windows. The main table in the room hadn't been cleared in ages, it seemed, and in another corner stood a bed with a big wardrobe next to it. In the corner closest to the right door, stood a knight's armor, complete with sword. In another corner stood a man-high mirror.

Star's eyes widened as she looked at her reflection. Last time she looked in a mirror (some before they went to sleep) she didn't look like the person she saw in the mirror. Instead of her usual uniform, she wore a soft pink dress – one ladies from an old time Robin had talked about wore. Her red hair didn't hung over her shoulders anymore, but someone made a braid in it. She looked very beautiful like this.

On the wall hung a picture – no, a painting of a man. This man had dark brown curling hair that reached his shoulders and his face was emotionless, with a hint of anger. The face of her kidnapper had been painted. Under the painting, there was a name. Rohan. Now she looked better, the painted man did look like the statue on the market square.

Now she only had to figure where she was exactly, so she could break out. And out of curiosity, she wanted to know why the man had wanted to take her here so badly.

Suddenly, the door flew open and her kidnapper came in, looking exactly like the man in the painting, and the statue. He had a plate in his hand, and on the plate was some fruit. Probably her lunch, or breakfast. He looked at her, ever frowning, and she looked a him, curious what he would do.

"You are the count Rohan, right?"

"Silence!" he shouted, and threw the plate on the ground. He walked back to the door and Starfire was about to fly up to him, until she realized she still stood with both legs on the ground. Something was terribly wrong. She tried using her starbolts, but it didn't work. Then came the realization: her powers didn't work. Breaking out would be a lot harder now she knew her powers were… gone, drained, whatever. She just didn't have them anymore.

And she didn't like being powerless.

* * *

_On the path – Cyborg (+ Jinx & Kid Flash)_

Cyborg couldn't stop thinking about Bumblebee. Was it really the best decision he made? Had it been better if he just let that chest be and go to them with nothing but himself? He and Kid had discussed it, and according to him (and Jinx) it was better to choose your girl over money, gold, the riches anyone would want to have. The couple thought it was really rude to have chosen the chest over Bee, and together decided to ignore Cyborg.

At some point, it even started to hurt to see Jinx and Kid together. It reminded him too much of himself and Bee, and the things they'd gone through together. The first day they met, they both went undercover in H.I.V.E Academy when Brother Blood was Headmaster. Their first fight when Blood built his new HQ under water. And many others.

He didn't even notice the slight change of environment. The forest now looked way healthier, in the distance they s aw a small stream they should have to pass and in the background, a voice chanted 'luxuria' and he should hear someone played the harp. Yet, he paid no attention to it, only his thoughts. When walking to the stream, and crossing it, he was too focused on an internal dilemma to notice where his legs took him.

Meanwhile, the three of them had walked into something heaven-like. No lie, it looked like heaven in the woods, with many angel-like people, dressed up in white. They had no wings, but I meant they looked like angels from their looks. Placed there, in the beginning, because absolutely nobody could say 'no' to a pretty face.

Kid Flash was one of those people. When he walked past those 'angels', he was at first careful. You never know what could happen. Let's say his instincts kicked in, telling him not to trust it there. That was until he saw one of those pretty faces. She had blonde hair, and… okay, she looked gorgeous, like everybody there, it was more a beautiful garden filled with Mary Sues and Gary Stus. Their eyes locked, and Kid Flash began to smile – an approving smile, as did this angel. She had him.

A bit further, some guys tried to do the same with Jinx, but she just shot them deadly glares. She already had someone she was happy with, so if she still had her powers, she would hex them all. And those girls she saw as well. Then, she saw that blonde that had her kid in a trance. He had only eyes for the blonde, as if she was the most beautiful in the world. _Not him,_ Jinx thought, along some curses. She walked up to the two and pulled at Kid's arm, getting him out of her 'trance'. He looked confused, and surprised. The blonde just stood there. If looks could kill, would the blonde die. Kid was Jinx', no-one else's. And she would remind anyone who tried to take Kid away from her.

"He's mine," she snapped, and pulled Kid with her, following this path. Both didn't look at the 'angels' anymore, for they now knew they could loose the other by only at them. Internally, the blonde beat herself up that it didn't work this time. Other times, the boys wouldn't go away. But, other times, those boys were passing their domain all alone, without their girls to keep their minds clear. Because, boys and men were easier to seduce then girls, who often stayed true to their guys.

When the blonde turned around, she noticed there was another boy. Not ugly, looking like he was in a small depression… he was perfect. And all alone as well! Maybe he was the one they were on the lookout for. He could be, because there was nobody following him. Whatever he was, this dark-skinned man should stay longer with them, if not forever. Time to do what she was supposed to ever she moved in their little heaven.

The blonde walked up to him. When he looked up, their eyes locked. And she wasn't going to let this one go without a little playing with him.

* * *

_back in the castle with Starfire & Rohan_

She could do a lot of things, but two were most obvious: 1) to wait for Robin to rescue her 2) to get into action and try to get out, even without her powers. For Starfire, she couldn't wait any longer and decided she had to get out of there before that Rohan-creep got back to her. Let's begin with the doors. Yes, I said 'doors', because there were two in this room. She didn't know where the doors lead. Seeing these artifacts in there, alongside the bed at one side and the wardrobe, this was supposed to be a lady's room.

Her instincts told her to use her starbolts, but as her powers were gone, she had to push and pull, or try to break them open. Not that simple, for she now was as strong as any normal human teenage girl. The result was that she had wasted ten minutes trying to get both doors opened. Off course, these doors were locked, and in this room, there was nothing useful she could use to at least try to open them. Finally, she turned to the window. That one should be opened.

Yet, when she tried to open them, she noticed it was closed. The count really did a good job locking the alien princess in. if she only had her powers, she could fly out of the window, find Robin, get away an forget this ever happened.

Another window, first hidden behind a curtain, was found open, though. Starfire smiled a wide smile. She had found a way out of the room she was held captive. She opened the window and stuck her head out of it. She looked down at the ground, fifty feet beneath her. For the first time in her life, she was afraid of highs. But only because she couldn't fly anymore. For a moment, she really thought she could escape. She put her head back in the room and closed the window, looking around the room. Nothing was useful. Nothing in the wardrobe, on the table, not on the armor…

The armor! Earlier that day, she found out that it stood in a corner, along with a sheath and sword! That could be her way out! She walked up to the armor and carefully pulled the sword out of the sheath. It looked lighter than it was. She looked cautiously at the door through which Rohan had entered the room, hoping the count hadn't heard it. After some minutes, when she was sure he hadn't heard anything, she walked to the other door and with all her strength (or what she had left) she used the sword to cut a hole in the door, or at least until she found the key that kept the door locked.

She could open the door and behind it, she found a stairs leading to some lower part of the castle she was held captive. She ran down there, dropping the sword, in the knowledge it could slow her down. When she started to descend the stairs, she could hear how the other door slammed open. She had to get out of there quickly. The wild chase got her running through many parts of the castle. At the final stage, she opened a door and ran into a big hall. In a corner, she found there many dresses and jewelry. On a big table in the middle of the hall, stood many sorts of food. At the very end, she spotted eggs and bacon, waffles, fish tacos and even tofu. It was like the count was expecting her friends. Yet she paid it no attention to it and ran into a room at the other side of the hall.

She was trapped in something that she identified as a medieval bureau. In the south wall, there was a closet. Seeing no other option, she went to hide in there, between the… she didn't know what was standing in that closet, but it felt cold.

At that moment the count got in the room. From a gap she could make out that he – for the first time – started to smile as if he had fun. He didn't even seem to try and find her anymore. As if he'd already knew where she was hiding.

"You may hide now," the man said, "but you won't escape your fate." he walked around in the room, and he was holding the sword she used to break out. She'd better took it with her, so she had something to defend herself against her kidnapper.

"This boyfriend of yours – Robin, isn't it – is doing quite well. He just had won from a task on my path of seven sins." Path of the seven sins? That was what stood on the arch when they entered the village. But, there nothing on it, right? It was just the entrance to the village, right? Star hoped it was just that.

"You're thinking your Robin is going to save you, eh?" Rohan smirked, "They all thought that – all six girls had waited, but their boys didn't show up at sunset, and none of them showed up." Starfire then realized something. She looked up at the cold surface she was holding, and saw it was a statue of a girl. And further in the closet, stood five others. The girls Rohan talked about. She crawled away from them, trying not to make any sound.

"You are the last one," Rohan continued, "when you turn into stone, then my heart will too, but completely." The creep tried to turn her into stone – probably by sunset, as the other girls had waited – only turn his heart completely into stone? Why would he do that? Didn't he want to live, or did he do all of this just for fun? Rohan started to walk around again, and he neared the closet.

"I know you can hear me. And I do know you're in there. But you won't get out of here. And I will make it my duty to personally make sure Robin will never reach my castle. You hear me? Never!" He slammed the sword against the door of the closet, and then made way to the door. Starfire's mind couldn't take it. Only living 'till sunset, unless Robin got here before Rohan had the chance to turn her into stone, but the count would try to kill her beloved Robin. And all that while she waited in the castle, helpless and powerless? She ran out of the closet towards Rohan, but he just was a little faster, and closed the door, so Star ran straight into it.

And she cried. She couldn't live with the thought that Robin, leader of the feared Teen Titans, might die today. Somehow, she knew the Teen Titans would come here and try to save her, all of them. The question was, who would be the one to walk in and rescue her from the creep?

She started to pray that no harm would be done to Robin and wished that he would be the one to fight the final battle here.

* * *

**Shout-out to my sister Maren, who turns 10 today and motivated me to include Starfire's part in the story! ****Yesterday started school again, but I'll still try to update every five days. ****Please review; I really want to know if you like it or not... Anyway, on with the reviews:**

**Victoria** (Well, thanks for your seven reviews. I seriously hadn't seen that coming! I think it'll be around 18, maybe less or more, depending on how much details I want to put in them traveling from task to task. And, for this story, it's more one-sided BBRae, as Raven still has to play her part in this story. Thusfar, she hadn't had a big role, but that'll change in one of the next chapters...)

**And, as a bonus because it's my sister's birthday, here's a deleted scene, in the interlude with Cy and Flinx:****.**

When walking to the stream, and crossing it, he **[Cyborg, obviously]** was too buy to follow the conversation in head to know where his legs took him.

_Maybe I shouldn't have done this. I'd better go back._

_No, you can't! Bee's mad at you, and you know what happened to the last person that made her mad._

_Oh, she'll sure make an exception for me. I'm her boyfriend, after all._

_Yeah, but what boyfriend would choose stupid money over his girl?_

_Stop thinking!_

_Stop thinking yourself, tin can!_

_Tin can!? Oh, it's on!_

He shook his head, trying to ignore the stupid fight with himself, but failed in this. Meanwhile, the three of them had walked in some heaven-like place...

**So, that was that. Remember that updates might come less frequent in the future, but I surely won't abandon it! Next update is due on September 8th.**

**-DutchWriters2**


	12. A garden filled with Beauties

_Luxuria… Luxuria…Luxuria…_

Ever since they had entered the woods, this all-time chanting had haunted them. At first, they almost didn't hear what it said. Now, as they walked further on the path, the word grew louder until they finally could understand what the whispered chant said: _luxuria_. Nobody seemed to know what it meant, except for Bumblebee. She's familiar with all seven, so it would be easy for her to recognize one, even chanted in Latin. "He might better not be doing what I think he's doing," she muttered at times. The boys guessed he was Cyborg, but they didn't know what else Bee was talking about. And, to be honest, they didn't want to know.

Robin was supposed to ask Bumblebee what '_luxuria_' meant, since he was leader and had to tell her to share what she knew, but she still seemed quite sad (and rather mad) to talk to. The four didn't even notice the change in environment. When the trees would be dead, they grew leafs now; it became wealthier in the woods they walked through, which alarmed the leader. It had been dead ever since they entered, and it wasn't natural one particular spot – or, better said, environment – looked like it could belong to Poison Ivy, with the exception it probably wasn't all that poisonous.

"What does '_luxuria_' mean again?" Robin finally broke the silence. Bumblebee turned to him; she still looked sad, but it seemed she was calm enough to talk to again.

"It's Latin for lust." she answered, without even looking at the leader. She had other things going on, almost all of them related to a greedy Cyborg. Nobody could blame her.

"Dude, are we almost at the end? I'm hungry!" Beast Boy whined.

"No, Beast Boy, we're not, and no, I don't know how long it's going to take to rescue Starfire. And don't touch anything, it might be poisoned," Robin said. He didn't even knew if everything was poisoned or not, but his friend's comment made him think gluttony is tested over the whole path, so it will take anyone hungry enough to try and eat some.

"So, what do we have to do now?" Speedy asked. Robin spun his head, so he stood face to face with the archer.

"What we _**don't**_ have to do now," he corrected, "last time you did something you sure shouldn't have done, you two almost killed me. _If you're seduced by glory and desire, know for whom you choose._ Whatever we'll find there, you can't give in to it, and you can't trust anything. Got it?" The blonde boy and the black-haired girl nodded, but Speedy seemed not too convinced.

"Isn't that a little too easy? Just saying," he asked, and Robin couldn't help but nod. Only resisting whatever the count was trying to seduce them with, that couldn't be it. There had to be more. Something nobody could resist, not even the person who desired nothing in the world. And what did everybody on the planet wanted more than anything else? The four of them didn't know.

In front of them was a small stream. Not that deep, so easy enough to walk through. Robin went first, behind him came Beast Boy, then Bumblebee and Speedy closed the line. It wasn't that easy to cross it then it had been at first sight. Each one of them almost slipped three times, and Beast Boy actually slipped two times. He commented it was quite refreshing when the three of them laughed when he slipped right after standing up again. But after they crossed the stream, they became serious again. All of them felt they reached this second task, the second sin. It became scarier when they didn't know what they were up against.

Nobody was prepared to see what they now saw.

Somewhere someone played a harp, perfect background music for the place they just walked in. This place looked this beautiful, Beast Boy started to wonder if he was dead. This piece of the wood looked healthier than any other part they have crossed so far. If they actually lived in this world, they would immediately move in there. It seemed to be inhabited by angel-like people. Not that they had wings, but they all looked very pretty. Robin narrowed his eyes. He did not trust this.

"I don't trust it here," Robin said to Speedy, but got no reply. "Speedy?" When he turned his head, he saw how Speedy looked at a beautiful brunette. At his other side, Beast Boy only had eye for another girl. Neither of them seemed to notice they weren't alone, or even on the world. Robin quickly identified this as abnormal and grabbed them by their collars. Suddenly, they seemed quite confused, and wondered why Robin was holding them at their collars.

"Focus, guys. No more looking at girls except our teammates," he told them. They'd been seduced, but Robin had gotten them out of their 'trance'. This was the second task, the task of lust, as the chant at the beginning made clear. In front of him had Bee no trouble passing the guys that tried to attract her. It really was true that no man could tell her what to do, not even when they tried their hardest to seduce her. Even some girls tried to make Bee fall for them. Maybe part of it was that she wanted to see Cyborg, and nobody else.

On their way, many tried to seduce Robin, but he could always block them out. Starfire couldn't leave his mind, her being kidnapped was the reason they were here, and he wouldn't let her down and seduced by another girl, how pretty she might be. He pictured the girls as Kitten, and it helped quite well. Sometimes, Speedy and Beast Boy trailed off again, but Robin always could pull them back to reality.

After crossing half this 'garden' they saw a familiar black-skinned man. It was Cyborg. A smile appeared on Bumblebee's face and she approached him. As Robin turned his head to see if Beast Boy and Speedy were still… well, not in trance, he noticed the eyes of the boys behind them. They lighted up. It was a lime green color, and when they still looked like angels, they now seemed like they were trouble. Beast Boy grew nervous again, always whenever it became dangerous since he lost his powers.

"That's not normal," he stated, hiding behind Speedy.

"Cyborg, I want to… hey!" Bumblebee shouted angrily. She had seen Cyborg, yes, but she had missed one small detail until she was near him – he was being seduced by a blonde 'angel'. How long did she have him? Oh, not for long anymore, because Bee got mad now. She stamped towards the two and [wurmde] her way between the two, pushing Cyborg on his back in the progress. If looks could kill…

"Hey, keep your hands off my man!" she shouted angrily, and pushed her away with one hand. If Robin had been faster, he could have warned Bee earlier. Cyborg, lying on the ground, stood up, wondering what the hell happened to him. When he looked up to his girlfriend, the confusion that could be read from his face changed to a slight fear and a big shock.

Bumblebee looked at the hand she pushed the girl with. She curiously watched how it got a grey color, and seconds later she couldn't feel it anymore – or move it, as it was now stone. She realized her fault only when it was too late. She got a shocked expression on her face. She couldn't do more. Nothing anymore. She'd turned into stone, and the other four looked at her, shocked like her. One more than another.

The one most shocked, was Cyborg. When he last saw her, she had been mad at him. When they separated ways, he never wanted to fall for any pretty face other than Bee's. Yet, he couldn't help it, as if those people were enchanted to keep everyone here. To seduce anyone who passes by… He mentally face-palmed. Why did he think those tests were as easy as the anger-construction? Or that he could choose to go past it or not.

Now something else came up in Cy's mind. How was she doing? Was she even still somewhere in there? He walked up to her, paying no attention to anything else. That's why it came unexpected when Robin tried to push him back.

"Cyborg, don't!" Robin tried to stop him. Cyborg practically was the strongest out of them all now Robin lost all strength he found in.

"But Bumblebee…"

"We don't know what'll happen when we touch her," Robin tried to explain, and there were lesser struggles now. They indeed didn't know what happened. Maybe nothing. Maybe it was poisonous. Maybe whoever touched it, turned into stone as well. Anyway, they didn't know what would happen. Beast Boy nervously shifted on his feet.

"Uh, Robin…" Hearing the alarmed tone in BB's voice, he turned around and saw the angels were approaching with ease. They slowly made their way towards them, and somehow they even looked more beautiful, in an evil-looking way. Robin started to panic. Normally, he wouldn't be the one to panic, but this was a whole other situation. In that world, they had no powers to protect them, so it would be normal if they were more afraid of supernatural things than usual.

He pulled Speedy and Cyborg with him – Beast Boy didn't need any motivation – and started to run away. At some point, it was like the angels were stopped by some sort of barrier. Robin noticed they were at the edge of the place. The green at their side seemed less 'green' than at the 'Heaven'. Fine. It was better if they stayed away. They kept on running, and Robin looked back one more time. Sitting there on his horse, was Rohan, clutching his chest, where his heart should be. As if it _really_ hurt. He shrugged it off quickly, and followed the other three down the path. It was not easy to forget what just happened. Bumblebee was gone…

There was a probability they would not get her back when this was over.

* * *

Rohan was outraged. They could snap out of the trance unbreakable trance. Or, now proven, almost unbreakable. No-one's ever done that! Normally, the lover of one of the girls with his companions would either cover their eyes, or fall for one of his nymphs. Never they have completely resisted if, with or without help of their leader.

He scoffed. They were mere _kids_, and they already had passed two of his sins. Of which one was the second hardest of he whole dang path! He screamed and hit one of the nymphs with his sword. As usual, he – it was a 'he' Rohan hit – didn't flinch. They never did. After all, they were solely created to stimulate lust in a man/woman, seduce him/her and, after they had their fun, to turn them into stone if the victims had no idea what was coming to them. At least one of those was lost, but there were still seven others to go. And next up was the hardest, acedia. He would claim them.

Yet, these kids were different. As he understood, they were something the people nowadays would call 'heroes'. Even when a little more merciful Trigon made him a statue, he could see and hear them., but never do anything until the two idiots he learned to know by the names of Cyborg and Beast Boy freed him, after stimulating the metal man's greed. He made sure to, before going back to his castle and after taking Starfire, girlfriend of the songbird-leader, take away their powers once they entered the Earth he grew up in.

That didn't mean he took away their determination to give their lives, their bravery and courage, even if some felt uncomfortable, even naked without their powers. He noticed the green boy – now a kid with awfully much scars and blonde hair – shifted nervously if something dangerous was about to happen. The half-metal-man was determined to go and find him, to take his revenge on Rohan for taking away the girl that once had wings, presumably his girlfriend. He smiled in himself, his face being as stoic as ever – the kid couldn't win from Rohan, no-one could, for he was Revenge. In the most literal meaning of the word.

But for now, his first goal was to get the chest back. If they didn't have it, they could never win from Rohan. With the chest, the count was practically invincible. And if he had the key, he could finally finish what he once started because his girl left him for another!

A plan began to form in his head. This was (for now) his world, he could keep an eye on everything if he wanted. He saw a big break between the sorceress and the other one with that running champion. The darker was all alone. And he knew the blonde cared about her. And, even if she wouldn't say it, she also cared about him the same way.

Time to use that against her.

* * *

**And the first victim just fell! Did you really think I was going to just let them pass all the tests? What would be the fun of that if they didn't lose some of their friends! What I'd like to hear from you, is who do you want to go next. And yeah, Rohan's got a plan... Next update is due on Friday the 13th - a datum I started to call Jinx' Day ever since I saw Final Exam. Please review; I really want to know if you like it or not... Anyway, on with the reviews:**

**Victoria** (I think you misunderstood me - this is the eleventh, and there are seven chapters or so left, plus epilogue. And she says thanks)

**Puck x 'Brina4ever** (I told her and she says thanks. Mine's November 10th. Yeah, first time we see Starfire, but next chapter with Star will be her last one until Robin and friends reach the castle - there's not much to do there, unless you want to be bored to death)

**-DutchWriters2**

**PS Should I include Rohan's plan in next chapter or not? If yes, the ending of the chapter after the next won't be so surprising anymore.**


	13. Origins

No, this wasn't really a great day for the Tamaran Princess. First, she's been kidnapped by some man who should be a statue. Second, her powers were gone since the moment she woke up in this mysterious location. Third, it seemed this Rohan knew her friends – how else could he have known Robin's name? Four, if Robin doesn't show up at the end of this day, she would be turned into stone, but what would happen next?

She turned her head as she stopped crying, looking around in the room where she was held captive. She was absolutely positive there was nothing she could use to escape from this place and to warn Robin and the others. The thoughts of her friends being in mortal danger and that they didn't have their powers to do what they usually did, scared her. She didn't even think about being in danger herself – she was too much worried about her friends to even think about herself.

In the room, it looked like a medieval bureau. Used by important noblemen who could read and write, unlike the 'dumb farmers'. Opposite of the wall Starfire leaned at, there were two paintings. One was Rohan himself, and the other… was ruined. The frame and edges were still visible, but the middle part was cut out, where the face should be. The count probably had cut the face out. Like Rohan's painting, the name could be seen under it: it had been a portrait of someone named Charlotte.

There had to be a reason Rohan cut her out of existence. There had to, because it didn't seem that Rohan would be the type to just do some damage to his own stuff without any reason, or just because he's mad. And, if this Charlotte had meant something to him – Starfire had yet to learn what Charlotte was of him – he could have hidden it somewhere.

So she started to search. There were some boxes at the side, as big as a bench could be. There were four king-sized boxes, and again nine small ones, just a bit bigger than the golden chest. She decided to start with the smallest, working up to the biggest.

It took her longer than she'd expected. To see if there really was a painting in one of them, she had to unroll all rolls of parchment, and there were a lot of parchment rolls in the box. On average, each box contained seven.

Finally, in one of the bigger ones, she found the roll on which the face of Charlotte was painted. The girl on the painting was looking at the left. Starfire could clearly see her hazel eyes, and her long straight brown hair. She wore some blue cloak. The girl she saw in the village Rohan. The girl Speedy 'should have killed'. The girl in the fire now had a name. Charlotte. But what did her painting do on the wall – _on Rohan's wall_?

She felt a cold breeze. It was strange because no window was open. She spun her head and saw the girl of the painting. "Charlotte," Starfire breathed. Charlotte put her finger on her lip while she floated closer to Starfire. She had come to help her; but it had to go quietly. Rohan couldn't know for one reason or another.

"_Listen carefully,_" Charlotte said, "_It's not too late. Rohan's heart hasn't completely turned into stone yet._" Starfire looked at Charlotte, not understanding what Charlotte meant. To her, it seemed like Charlotte talked in riddles. It wasn't too late because his heart wasn't completely stone. What the hell did that mean?

"But I do not understand. Why am I here and why does he act like a brute?" Starfire asked. She just had to know. Charlotte floated to the window.

"_We were in love. Rohan and I. But we were prohibited from marriage. They sent me to a nunnery and told Rohan I married the ruler of another county, Balor, who recently married my sister. I loved Rohan very much, but I couldn't tell him and it hurt him so much_," Charlotte stopped and looked out of the window. Starfire couldn't know what Charlotte was seeing. Memories came, and continued her story not looking at the Tamaran princess anymore.

"_He found a way to turn his heart into stone. He wanted to sell his heart to an evil spirit named Trigon,_" a shiver rolled over Starfire's spine upon hearing the name of Raven's daddy – apparently Trigon was just a little more forgiving, "_but he couldn't just do it. He had to sacrifice seven girls by taking them to the castle. And with every girl that stones, his heart_ does as well." Things started to fall in place. Why the count all did it, the meaning behind the few words he told her.

"_And you are the last one, Starfire. If you turn into stone at sunset, he will be lost forever._"

"But why did he create the Path of Seven Sins?" Starfire wondered. The count hadn't make it a secret her boyfriend was risking his life on 'his path of seven sins'.

"_Rohan made it to prevent the lovers of the girls to reach the castle. I tried everything I could to undo it…_" She paused, as if she tried to formulate the next sentence carefully. "_Finally, I received the right to choose the last girl, because only true love can withstand the path of seven sins._" Starfire now felt many emotions. It was her fault she was here, and her fault Robin and her friends were in danger! She felt sorry for Charlotte and what happened to her and Rohan. She missed Robin harder than ever. And there were two more question she wanted answered.

"But how do you know Robin and I are each other's true love?" Charlotte finally looked back at Starfire, no longer watching old memories replay in front of her eyes when they scrolled over the familiar landscape.

"_I can feel it._" Charlotte simply said. Outside, close to the window, they heard a horse. Rohan would arrive sooner or later. Probably the first. Starfire watched Charlotte and their eyes met – she could see how she had haste to finish the conversation before Rohan went to check upon his prisoner.

"_Remember, Robin __has__ to open the chest in the castle._" She felt now was the perfect time to ask Charlotte the thing that had been bothering her ever since she mentioned the path of seven sins.

"Why did you not walk the path yourself?" Charlotte shook her head.

"_I couldn't do that anymore. Trigon could help me. To make sure Rohan couldn't just take the seventh girl, we agreed to put his heart in a chest and temporally turn him into a statue, until I found you. But I had to make a big sacrifice. The most precious…_" Then, the door opened and Charlotte disappeared at the same time Rohan walked in. There was something about him that was different. He seemed to look… more content than he was before. He walked towards Starfire with a devious smile. As he approached her, she stood up and backed away from the count.

"I'm sorry. Your Robin hasn't made it. He's taken down by one of my beautiful nymphs. His love for you went that far – he's being seduced by someone-else." She couldn't believe her ears. Robin, her Robin… turned into stone? That was impossible! And so she expressed it on her way – in a raging way.

"You are lying! He would never do such thing! We are each other's true love!" Starfire said with her Tamaran temper coming up again. Rohan shook his head.

"True love doesn't exist."

"And what about Charlotte?" she never expected Rohan to scream so loudly the glass almost broke.

"_**Don't ever mention that name again**_!" He still was mad at her – I mean, mad at Charlotte – for leaving him. This made her wonder that, if he ever heard the truth, he would forgive her. But if she can't be around him, who would tell? Well, maybe that 'who' was Starfire. Rohan walked out, ready not to waste his time around her anymore.

"I have seen her. She did love you. It was a misunderstanding!" Starfire tried, but Rohan didn't listen. He just walked out, shut the door and locked it – it took him longer to lock her than to unlock her. He wanted to be sure she stayed where she was. As if she wanted to leave the room – she could find a lot of interesting stuff in the boxes, and Charlotte's painting was only the beginning. Plus, it was something to keep her busy during the endless waiting.

Besides, what else was there to do?

* * *

**Yeah, short chapter. Next one will be around this one, and the one behind that one will be longer - guaranteed. But for now, you'll have to do with Rae and Rohan.**** Next update is due on Septemer 18th. On with the reviews:**

**Victoria** (Alright, Rohan will be seen putting his plan into action, but the chapters won't be placed after each other - there's one mega between them)

**-DutchWriters2**


	14. Locked in

Running. The one thought on the four's minds after the those seducing nymphs. The faster they were out of there, the better it would be for all of them. Cyborg and Robin ran first, followed closely by Beast Boy and Speedy. None of them thought of stopping. They ran for who-knows-how-long. Then, in the distance, further on the path, they could make out two people the four of them recognized as Kid Flash and Jinx in their new outfits. The four male heroes only stopped when they reached the walking couple, who noticed they had been running from something. Beast Boy let himself fall on the ground.

"Dude! Never! Again!" he panted, as the three others nodded in agreement. Jinx and Kid Flash looked at them, confused. They weren't there when it happened.

"What happened? And where's Bee?" Kid wanted to know. It was Cyborg who started to talk. Even though it wasn't really the answer Kid expected from the oldest of the core members. While he was talking, the others who were there when it happened, comforted him

"S-She pushed me away… I d-didn't want to… I-I had n-no control, it's… This is my fault," he said, his face guilty-ridden. The others already knew what was coming.

"No, Cy, it's not your fault!" Beast Boy said, confusing Jinx and Kid more than they already were.

"What's his fault?" Kid asked, and Jinx elbowed him. "What? I want to know what happened!"

"Not helping!" Jinx said, and looked at Robin expectantly, knowing he would give the answer to their questions.

"She is… S-She is…" Cyborg tried to say it, but failed – he was still in shock of what happened.

"Bumblebee turned into stone. She's a statue now, because of one of those… demons," Robin said, carefully picking the last word, and Kid and Jinx looked pitiful at Cyborg. Must be very hard, knowing your girlfriend was gone.

"I'm going back," Cyborg suddenly said, and turned around, ready to go back in there, to possibly find a way to undo what had been done. Robin, Speedy and Beast Boy tried to stop him, but even without his robot parts, he really was quite strong. They all tried and stop him. Robin made Cyborg listen to him, only if it was for a short time.

"Listen to me, Cyborg, it was not your fault! I have a theory. If you have strong feelings for someone or if you go through there you love, they won't hurt you. It's also the reason these two were being seduced many times, so…" he didn't need to finish. Cyborg knew the answer already. And he didn't like it. Yet he had to accept it, it's what heroes do. Now he knew how Beast Boy felt when Terra…

"S-She sacrificed herself. For me, while I… I…" at this point, he almost strangled Robin. Beast Boy stood next to Robin now, and looked his friend in the eyes.

"And that's why you have to go on," Beast Boy said, "For Bee. And if we make it, there might be a chance she'll come back. Dude, don't give up already!" Cyborg cooled down now. She can come back. There still is a chance she'll come back, if they have Starfire back. It should be alright.

"Come on,. We need to go on," Robin said, and the others followed. He and Beast Boy had to help Cyborg move on, so they were a bit behind on the others. Which didn't really help Robin's mood. The worst part was that he was as driven to find his girl, he didn't allow his friends to rest. They had to reach the castle before sunset, and because Robin didn't know how far away the castle was from them, they had to walk as fast as they could. And if he was right, sloth was also one of the sins. It was a pity their powers were eliminated in this world, or else Kid Flash could've run there and return with Starfire so they could go home already. But they couldn't do that, so they just had to walk to the castle.

But how long was it going to take?

* * *

They walked in silence, off course. They could only guess how long it took to go from the heaven to the next obstacle, which was still a mystery for all of them. Beast Boy still comforted Cyborg, who thought about going back at least three more times, the best he could and Robin played absently with Star's hair. It felt ages ago since he last saw her. According to the sun, Robin guessed it was somewhere past midday. They needed to make haste now, with five more tasks to withstand.

The path ended at a giant rock hill, reaching up high at least 200 yards. In the 'wall', there was something that resembled the entrance of a cave, but it was closed off by some bars. In front of the bars, on a rock not far away from the cave, sat a familiar person. Beast Boy softly squealed when he spotted her. She looked like she was in deep concentration, and a chanting could be heard from where she sat.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos… Azarath Metrion Zinthos…"

Two of the heroes raced towards her. Well, one of them would walk to her calmly, while the other literally tackled her into a hug, breaking her concentration. Despite the fact that Beast Boy, for the first time in a while, openly dared to hug Raven and her very annoying expression, the others couldn't find the courage to laugh, to grin, or even a small smile – all but BB and Jinx, who was very glad her girl best friend was alright.

"Raven! Oh, thank goodness, you're alright!" If looks could kill…

"Let go of me," Raven said calmly. Pronounced dangerously calm. If she still had her powers, he hadn't been able to hold onto her this long. Still not more than a minute, but the longest he's ever held her. Yet, he noticed the tone of her voice and that she (probably) would really hurt him if he didn't let go quickly. So he backed away, but still close to her. He's seen her leave once, and he won't let her go again. He'd hidden really well how much he was worried about Raven all those time.

Beast Boy looked quite offended when she let Jinx hug her. For a moment, he really was jealous of Jinx. He narrowed his eyes as he followed what happened between 'his' Rae and Jinx. Especially Raven, for her part. He noticed how she looked… different. Yes, she still looked like she was when they first entered this world, and still acted like the Raven he fell in love with. He just noticed there was something wrong with her. He could see it in her eyes while she was hugging Jinx. She was mad at somebody – she couldn't be mad at BB, she looks different at him when she's mad – with a hint of… guilt? What happened to her in the time she was all alone, meditating, had to be remained a mystery. The most important thing was still that she was fine.

He shot a look at Robin, and even if the leader wore his mask, Beast Boy knew Robin had noticed her 'strange behavior' as well.

"How did you get past the nymphs?" Jinx finally asked. At first, it seemed as if Raven didn't understand what she was talking about, but she recovered quickly. She shot her best friend a reassuring smile. Then, she answered.

"I'm not easy to seduce," she simply replied to Jinx' question, and her eyes met Beast Boy's. Or she meant that Beast Boy's tries hadn't been working, or that she slowly had been falling for him. The changeling hoped with all his heart it was the last.

In the meanwhile, Robin had been following everything that had been going on with the seven friends. Cyborg and Kid were talking to each other, and Speedy studied the bars and the barred door made in it. After looking up every detail, he tried to open it without asking Robin the key – he actually forgot Robin gained the key with the first task, something he forgot because of Bee… _Don't think about that! Now, blow open the door._ His hand went to his back automatically, trying to grab one of the explosive arrows that were taken away from him. He turned around to face Robin.

"Hey, Boy Wonder, can you help here or not?" Speedy called out, getting Robin's attention from Raven to himself. Robin, turning away from the others, walked towards the bars and pulled out the old, big, rusty key he gained at the test of Anger. He put the key in the locket, only to find out it fitted. He'd known it was good for something when they passed the spear construction. With a loud click, the door opened, cracking loudly in the process, as if it hadn't been used for a while. One by one, they entered the cave, the one more cautiously than the others. First Robin, then Speedy, Kid Flash and Jinx, ultimately followed by Raven, Beast Boy and lastly, Cyborg. After they all safely entered the cave they heard a loud bang coming from behind them. Whispers came – the ceiling looked not that stable as they had hoped – and they turned their heads to see how Cyborg (note, desperately)tried to get the barred door opened again. That's when they noticed that it had, somehow, had shut itself and locked them inside the cave. For a quite rusty construction, it really still stood strong, because Cyborg couldn't bring any movement in there. T some point, the half metal man gave up and shook his head. The others understood that, if anything happened on their way out, they could only go forward, because they just were locked in.

* * *

**This ****chapter was meant to be the first part of the next one, but I found it was becoming a bit long, so I split it up in two. But anyway, we're nearing another task, and I'd like to know who do you think will be next, or want to be next. But then again,**** who will actually_ be_ next? ****Next update is due on September 23rd. On with the reviews:**

**Victoria** (Nah, Rohan was just trying to get her confidence in him down. I mean, she can't know if he got past it or not! She can only hope they will rescue her before sunset. And, no, I don't think I'll let Robin do that. In my eyes, they'll always be a bunch of kids saving the world.)

**-DutchWriters2**


	15. Creepy statue dude

Robin's brain was working as they walked through the dark cave. After walking in the light for almost half a day, including crossing a heaven-like place, it was hard to know where they were going. Robin himself had least trouble seeing, being trained by not only Batman but also the true master, who learned him not to rely completely on your eyes. The more they walked, the more he wondered what was waiting up there, 'further'? And more important, who of his friends was this task going to claim? They walked on in silence, fearing that with the least sound the roof would collapse on them. From what Robin observed, it didn't look that stable. In fact, it felt like it could fall down any second.

At some point, they ended up in a round room, still in the cave. Light from the placed torches filled the whole room, making it easy for the others not to trip over anything anymore. The only entrance was the one they went this cave in, but Robin instinctively knew there had to be an exit somewhere hidden. A big, round stone in the form of a cylinder was placed in the middle of the room, reaching as high as Robin's stomach. In the stone, on top of it, there were symbols engraved on it, but it looked like it had been done by an amateur. They recognized some smaller and bigger animals, signs of the Zodiac and Raven even recognized Trigon's mark. In the middle of the cylinder shone a light, but strangely enough the source wasn't visible. Within the light floated some stones, the biggest not bigger than one of the smaller birds, the smallest as big as a normal fly.

The walls were plain made out of rock, and the only decoration was a statue being hacked out of the wall, a man looking like he held up the roof. Beast Boy cautiously and curiously looked at it, careful not to come too close to it. He waved his hand in front of its eyes, and suddenly they opened. It weren't real eyes, just stone ones, and they also shone out a bright light. Beast Boy screamed, drawing everyone's attention.

"_Choose wisely and do not linger_," a deep voice said, coming out of the (still closed) mouth of the statue. The stones in the middle of the cylinder's light switched places, so the whole started to look like a… apparently, like an eye.

"Hey, guys, look! There's the same eye." Kid Flash pointed out. Ten symbols to the right, an arrow pointed to one of the other symbols. Kid and Robin looked at each other. No words were needed to know that they both knew what they had to do now. Then, they started to push the cylinder, and there was little to no movement visible. The others just stood there. Robin put down the chest and looked at the five others.

"What are you waiting for? Come help us!" He shouted, and the others started to push the stone as well. All, but two. Raven and Beast Boy. Beast Boy because he, in muscle, was the weakest of them all and Raven because there was no place left to push, unless pushing one of the others counted. Another problem was that she was too deep in thoughts to know what was going on around her. The dilemma only got worse when her eyes fell on the now unguarded chest.

They were only few inches away from the arrow, but then the image started to change. The cave trembled, and smaller parts of the ceiling fell down. Beast Boy let out a small squeal and grabbed the chest as if to protect it.

"_Choose wisely and do not linger_," the statue said, and the image changed into a … into something that looked like a broken heart. Hastily, they started to search the symbol, hoping they would find it quickly. Fast enough, Cyborg found it – just three symbols away from the rat. They started to push the cylinder again, and with very much effort, they placed the broken heart at the arrow. Light fell in, but not from the earlier mentioned sources. Next to the statue, the wall had split itself big enough for two rats to pass by. The image changed again, and this time into a cat – come one, who created this thing, those were all created very poorly. It took them too long to recognize and find it. Once more, it seemed they would find their deaths in there.

"_Choose wisely and do not linger_."

"Dude, shut up! You're making me nervous!" Beast Boy screamed to the statue. He indeed grew nervous by this statue-dude, his hands all sweaty. He could barely hold the chest. The others watched how the cat transformed into a peacock. Alright, since this is the task of Sloth, I'll speed up a bit or else I'll have to copy what I've written before with some adaptions, and that's boring, and because of a lack of inspiration. They could find the peacock and made it with that one. Next up were a dove, a turtle and Trigon's mark. They succeeded in finding the mark, when they were too slow with the dove and the turtle. Robin shot a look at the opening – it was big enough so a smaller person would fit through.

"Still a few more to go." he announced, and the others seemed relieved it was almost over. The next one was a dolphin, and they could open it up a bit more so even Cyborg could fit through. Beast Boy suddenly dropped the chest, letting it fall out of his sweaty hands and should be the one to pick it up, if it weren't for Raven, who finally had made her decision. Without further ado, she spurted away and out of the cave, without giving any explanation. Beast Boy panicked and followed her immediately. The next to get out was Speedy, because he was older than the two who ran out, and thought they possibly couldn't go without supervision. And for personal reasons, and because he was kinda afraid.

The chest has gone over the borders of the task of Sloth, so I'll slow down as well now.

"Guys! Come back!" Robin called out, but to no avail. The cave started to tremble and the ceiling was on the verge of collapsing.

"_Too much haste is not good either_." The statue stated, and the light that shone out of its eyes slowly died down. When the stone eyelids were completely closed, it seemed nothing held up the roof anymore, and every rock that had been on the verge of falling down, now fell down. Especially the one that had been hanging dangerously above the exit.

In the crowd, Kid had watched it all happen in a blur. At first, he was wondering why Raven would show some interest in the chest she clearly hadn't when this all started. Second of all, the ceiling was collapsing and he was feeling a bit… I don't know, useless. If he just could run everybody out in less than a second, then there would have been no problem.

Then, he suddenly saw his chance. Even if I wouldn't call it a chance, more a situation of "I see what's happening and the others don't and somebody has to do something". The big one, 'dangerously swinging above the exit' was falling down, ready to block the only way out. If it fell down, they would be stuck – all except for BB, Raven and Speedy, who would still have four sins ahead of them, and the count himself, off course. Before even knowing what he was doing, he stood there, holding that dangerously big rock – probably were his hero instincts kicking in. He watched them all pas – Robin, Cyborg, Jinx. Now they were all out of there, it's time for Kid to follow, yes?

Wrong. He didn't notice how his hands slowly got a grey color and couldn't feel them anymore until it was too late. He lifted his head and eyed the running figure that was Jinx, who passed him just a second ago. It broke him to know he couldn't go with her (and the others, too, but especially Jinx). He wished he could, but he decided what happened to himself the second he caught that rock. He wanted to protect her, to hold her, to kiss her, but all he could now, was the thing he'd never imagine he'd do – he had to let her go, leaving her in the arms of his friends…

"Goodbye!" He managed to shout out. Literally, this had been his very last action before he overall had a stone-grey color. Jinx, upon hearing this, stopped running. Solely because her boyfriend had shouted one word, and because it concerned her. Kid would follow, she assured herself. He always did. But why did he then seemingly gave up? She dared to look behind and saw the cruelty that was called 'failing a task on the Path of Seven Sins'. Her boyfriend, her Kid Flash, just sacrificed himself to let them go on and rescue a teammate.

Cyborg, hearing no more footsteps behind him, turned and saw how Jinx just stood there and stared at Kid. Yeah it was bad and all, but hey – they were in mortal danger right now. Instinctively, he grabbed her wrist and dragged her with him. If they lingered any longer, the two of them would join Bee and Kid for sure. Not that easy when she didn't even ran alongside you. Robin was way ahead of them, and the collapsing was closing in on them. At some point, he would trip and take Jinx with him. He expected the rocks to fall down, but none of them hit them. But that's only because they could get to safety just in time. They were lying on the tiles, Robin standing just in front of them, sighing out of relief they were alright.

Cyborg couldn't help but feel responsible for all this. If he hadn't wanted that stupid key, if he just had listened to BB, if he just hadn't had to have that damned chest, if he hadn't been seduced, if, if, if… he felt very, very guilty and if there was any way he could fix the situation they were in now, he would gladly volunteer to make up the faults he made without knowing which consequences would follow. Without knowing they would lose Bee and Kid…

As Robin looked up, he saw Speedy standing there, having a hand ready to help him up, which Robin took. Cyborg stood up out of himself, and eventually helped Jinx up as well. The bird boy could see the concern on the archer's face. But he wasn't the only one to be concerned. Robin himself was, too. Like, Beast Boy and Raven were nowhere to be seen. Where were they?

"Where's KF?" Speedy asked as he noticed the other redhead wasn't there, though he guessed what happened. Cyborg shook his head in response, still trying to comfort Jinx – she really needed any help she could get – and Speedy bowed his head. Again, one was gone. And they were only at the third sin! How were they going to survive the path and get to the castle together if they, technically, kept losing one friend at each challenge they passed?

"Speedy, where are Raven and Beast Boy?" Robin eventually asked. Speedy began to grow nervous as Robin said this. He glanced a look at his right, at Robin's left. The Boy Wonder looked there, too, but he couldn't see anything, but the continuation of the path. Did the two of them now ran in that direction? "Speedy, where are they?" He repeated, slowly and calmly. Now, Speedy pointed to the path he's been looking at.

"Raven ran away with the chest, and Beast Boy told me to wait for you guys and he went after her." Their eyes widened. They have done _what_? Cyborg shifted on his feet nervously, like BB did. His best friend and Raven went on their own, with who knows what reasons, and it all was _his_ fault.

"On their own?"

"Off course on their own. There is no-one else left," Robin stated, voicing what they all were thinking. They, including Raven and BB, were the last ones left. Star's fate was lying in their hands now. And if it were for Robin, they were going to reach the castle, no matter what it would take. But right now, the main thoughts in their heads were – what did Raven want with the chest? Where did she run off to? Why did Beast Boy go after her, and not Speedy? Were the two of them going to make it, or did they have to face them as… well, in the same position as Bee or Kid?

The four of them bolted in that direction, hoping Raven and Beast Boy were alright.

* * *

**This is what happens when I listen the PotC soudtrack on repeat while writing. Please don't be mad at me for eliminating Kid Flash! I know, one of our favorites despite how less screen time he got, but looking forward, if he didn't go now, he would have at the sixth, like the others that are meant to join them. Raven would even survive all of them if I don't take her out soon!**

**So, yeah, no Kid Flash anymore :( Who's gonna be the third? Also, n****ext update is due on Septemer 28th. On with the reviews:**

**Victoria** (off course he isn't, he's the main protagonist. Did you read my mind about KF? And yeah, cliffhangers... I don't like them, but there's quite useful)

**Puck x 'Brina4ever** (Happy Birthday! Hopefully it wasn't all that disappointing...)

**And, another deleted scene! If Jinx actually _did_ something when she spun around after hearing her boyfriend say 'Goodbye'!**

.../... But why did he then seemingly gave up? She dared to look behind and when she turned around, she gasped as she saw he was a statue. Her boyfriend, giving up to let them pass and save a teammate. Dead, or worse. Not thinking of the consequences, she ran back to her boyfriend, grabbing him and started to sob. She almost didn't feel what happened to her, as she kept hugging Kid. A single tear rolled over her cheek when she was completely made of stone.

Robin could do nothing but watch as he saw what happened in front of his eyes. He just witnessed the loss of two of his good friends. He felt like he couldn't move. All those time, Cyborg had called out for him, but Robin had trouble processing the words. Because he didn't want to lose a third person by those rocks, Cyborg took Robin's wrist and dragged him out of the cave as fast as he could. Not that easy when your friend didn't even ran alongside you. The collapsing ceiling almost reached them when they saw a light and finally ran out of the cave, right in time. The two fell to the ground, tripping over some smaller rocks at the exit, but were out of danger, for now. .../...

**Yeah, Jinx was first meant to join Kid, but I changed it to someone else.**

**-DutchWriters2**


	16. Sacrificed

Raven, chest in her hands, ran through the tunnel. It hadn't felt good to leave now, so less space so only two people could pass. Even if she didn't look back, she knew Beast Boy probably had been panicking about her, and followed her. Behind her, she could hear hasty footsteps, and in the far distance it was as if the whole roof was falling down. A bit panicking herself, she tried to run faster than she already was. When she began to see the end, she scolded herself for letting her emotions get loose, even if there wasn't anything that could get loose if her emotions took the upper hand.

She ran out of the tunnel and allowed herself to rest for a few seconds. At the right, she found they could go in two directions – left and right. For some moments, she was lost in a memory she'd rather not recall.

_Raven had felt lonelier than ever. The reason? There were more than one. The first one was that, since they arrived in Rohan, she had her doubts about being part of the Teen Titans, as daughter of an inter-dimensional demon who would probably try the same another time, when there were no Titans to stop him anymore. Even if she found a home there, even if she finally had learned to live with all Titans, including the annoying ones, (*Beast Boy*) it didn't really feel like she belonged. The second one was that when Jinx came, as a hero this time, she had not that much trouble befriending her as she thought, and she had found a new best friend in the girl with bad luck. This stopped when Jinx and Kid were officially together, and Raven didn't like being the third wheel._

_The last one, was that everyone had at least somebody. Robin had Starfire, and there were Cyborg and Bumblebee, Mas and Menos and Speedy and Aqualad, Raven being the first to discover their secret relationship, respecting them by not telling the others about them. And even if Beast Boy doesn't have anyone and clearly loves Raven, he just hangs around everyone with a bit time on their hands. Raven? She would never tell anyone when she fell in love and how long it had been going on, if she even fell in love. Whenever she visited Nevermore, her pink-wearing self wouldn't stop babbling about the green kid that visited once, but Raven always saw it as something that would go over pretty quickly. Yet, it hadn't, and with everything that happened to her, between her and Beast Boy, to Beast Boy, she still wouldn't dare to admit she was in love._

_If she would ever call it 'being in love with someone'._

_As she continued meditating, she heard how somebody went sitting behind her. At this point, she wished for the billionth time she still had her powers, so she could know who it was. If it was Jinx or Bee, the person would have already exclaimed "There you are!". If it was one of the boys, they would run back yelling "Guys! I found Raven!" If it was Beast Boy, he would've ran up to her, screaming her name. If it was Cyborg, then he would be sitting next to her and talk things out, and she would be confident he wouldn't tell anybody._

_In other words, the person wasn't a Titan._

"_Go away," she demanded, not even turning around to face the person. She continued meditating (without the chant) and closed her eyes. The person behind her didn't move._

"_I won't leave such a beautiful lady alone." a voice said. She heard it was a calm voice, trained to talk with authority. She was surprised by the compliment. No-one's ever said that to her, with the exception of Beast Boy, because most of the time, they would run away (if they knew her, walk away) when she demanded anyone to go away. But yeah, there she had her powers, and right there, she didn't… she shook her head, shaking the idea of turning her head out of her mind. She didn't have to know who was sitting right behind them. _

"_Go away," she repeated. For a long time, there was a silence. Then, the man replied to her._

"_Don't you know I won't leave a lady so vulnerable out in the woods?" At this moment, she couldn't help but turn to the stranger. She didn't care if anyone would call her beautiful, or pretty, or something like that, but nobody called her vulnerable. No, she hated to be called like that._

"_I am not vulnerable," she snapped at him. Now she could see his face clearly. It was oddly familiar, with the long curls and what he was wearing… Raven's eyes widened as she realized it was Rohan sitting there, with the only difference between the statue being a gaze in which he actually showed he wasn't all that emotionless. _

"_You're supposed to be dead," she commented. He looked at her, confusing, which quickly replaced to one of understanding._

"_Oh yeah! Forgotten." At that point, he dramatically fell back. On any other single girl it might have worked, but it was Raven he tried it with. Not the best girl to pick when trying out this tactic. Raven raised an eyebrow._

"_What was that supposed to do?" She asked, not necessarily interested. Rohan sat back up, and she could have sworn he had looked a bit annoyed she didn't fall for that one. Then he reached out a gloved hand and was coming close to her hair, but he couldn't get his hand on her hair as she glared at him – a glare that said that it was better not to touch anything that was Raven's._

"_Such extraordinary hair color…" he muttered, almost to himself._

"_Don't speak to me." Raven demanded. Rohan made the same impression as Beast Boy when they first met, and now she was barely irritated by the count. She turned her back to him and concentrated on her meditation again. This endured at least half a minute until a (gloved) hand grabbed her and forced her to stand on her feet. She tried to pull her arm free, but it wouldn't work._

"_I've tried it the nice way," he snarled, "but this is _my_ world, and now we're doing things _my_ way." There was something in his tone that made her kept watching. He put out one of his gloves and didn't even had to look to know there stood a tree to the right. Careless, he placed his hand against the tree, eyes still fixed on Raven. She watched how the tree slowly turned into stone. Well, the second way he tried out, worked on her. If he couldn't have her using his 'charms', he'd better have her intimidated._

_Raven growled in herself for being that afraid of the man._

"_This is what you're going to do, Raven," he began, his harsh eyes fixated on her, while she wondered how he knew her name if she even hadn't said it, "I need my chest. I know that Robin has it, and that his friends would help him protect it, except for this Cyborg, who would rather 'sell his car' than to give up my chest. Your task will include stealing it and bringing it to me. There is no other option." Raven glared at him. Why did he think there was no other option? She could choose for herself what to do or not, and not some guy who's meant to be a rock._

"_Yes, there is," she answered fiercely._

"_No, there is not. Because, if you don't, I know where to find you… and your little friends. You seem to be quite attached to the pink haired girl and the blonde boy, no?" Raven tilted her her head in surprise and fear, going back to expressionless within the millisecond, but Rohan saw how she reacted. The count smirked._

"_Now you confirmed that," he started again, "Let's discuss the rules. The next task, you will take away the chest, and when you're out in the sunlight again, go to the left. Keep running until you find me. Trust me, I can feel if you're past Sloth or not, and if you haven't reached me within ten minutes, I'll know you're trying to keep it away from me. If you don't bring me the chest, I'm going after you, especially the pink and the blonde. And I'm going to make you and those two suffer." He didn't seem as charming as he wanted her to believe only minutes ago. Something told Raven not to do it, but he knew where everyone was, and she wouldn't dare to risk it. The gaze in his eyes made her feel uncomfortable._

"_Now, wouldn't you go ahead and wait at the bars? I'll tell the nymphs to leave you alone, so you can fulfill your task." He said, getting up, and walked away from her, leaving her there all alone. She watched him leave, and then she herself stood up and returned to the path. Passing the nymphs, she felt there were indeed leaving her alone. When she at least arrived at the cave entrance, she came to the conclusion she didn't know if she really wanted to betray her friends or not._

No, she didn't like what she was doing to her friends at all.

Not sure where to go, she remembered the directions of Rohan. _When you're out of the tunnel, go to the left._ The path clearly continued, to the left, leading the way through some ruins. At the right, it was just like the woods she'd walked through – she even could make out one of Rohan's private 'highways'.

Maybe, she could wait here, tell the others that she panicked, and took the chest with her because it was very important to open it in the castle and they couldn't lose it. She could apologize, and tell them that she's seen something that looked like a shortcut. Then, Kid (and possibly Beast Boy) would joke about it that that wasn't possible, then Jinx, Speedy and Cyborg wouldn't know if it was true, and then Robin would investigate what she's seen and confirm it really was a shortcut, which they could walk to get faster to the castle and rescue Starfire faster. Speedy and Beast Boy wouldn't dare to trust it, and could be reminded what happened when one stayed behind. Cyborg could fear it would happen again, and follow immediately, and Raven herself could close the row of friends, presumably Beast Boy walking in front of her, where he could keep insisting that she had to walk in front of her with a seriousness she would never expect from him.

Then again, if she did, she might lose her friends, especially 'the pink and blonde ones'. She knew Rohan probably already felt the chest had gone past the third task, the test of Sloth, and if she wouldn't show up within five minutes, he would go not only after Robin, but also after Beast Boy and Jinx. And he was going to make sure she watched when he did it to one of her friends.

She turned to the left and shook her head. Since when did she start to call Beast Boy one of her friends? Making sure she still ran faster than whoever would follow her, she hoped with all her heart they wouldn't take it personally.

* * *

Beast Boy and Speedy were panting as they just ran out of the cave. They had followed Raven out, and now they had been just in time to see how she ran away to their left. Beast Boy followed her with his eyes. He'd lost her once, or twice before, and he wasn't going to let her go this time.

"You stay here. I'm going after her." Beast Boy said.

"You can't go after her on your own! I'm going with you!" but Beast Boy shook his head. No, he wouldn't want Speedy to come with him. He would be more stealthy on his own.

"No, you wait here for the others," Beast Boy said, already running away, following Raven as silent as he could. Speedy tried to call him back, but BB saw no other option than to just follow Raven and get the chest back. He hadn't noticed she had been acting weird lately, but now he had, and I don't think he would stop until he found out what exactly was bothering Beast Boy. And he wanted the chest back. Which wouldn't be too simple since it was Raven who had it now. She wouldn't let it go out of her sight.

At some point, she had stopped, and Beast Boy couldn't do any more than hide and watch the scene before him unfold. She seemed to be waiting for someone. And then, the person she was supposedly waiting for arrived. Beast Boy could suppress a squeal as he noticed she was actually _handing over_ the chest to count Rohan, their enemy. He crawled little closer so he could also understand what they were saying.

"You kept your word," the count said, "I'll keep mine. I won't hurt that blonde and pink." That blonde and pink? For an instant, he'd forgotten he didn't have green hair anymore, but was blonde again. And the pink… that must be Jinx. He understood now why Raven handed over the chest – to safe Jinx and BB himself. Beast Boy was confused. Raven tried to safe Jinx' life, that he could understand, but he didn't think she would ever care about him.

Raven looked surprised and, strangely enough, afraid. "You got your chest. But you promised to leave my friends alone."

"Correction: I wouldn't hurt your friends Beast Boy and Jinx. I never said anything about the other four, or you," her eyes widened as he spoke those last words, "You did what I asked from you, so you're useless now. And, of course, I can't let you run back to the others to warn them…" he slowly pulled out one of his gloves. Both Beast Boy felt this was bad news, even though he didn't know why to be afraid – it was the hand of some stupid count, right? Anyway, Raven seemed to be quite scared, so she needed help.

And he was the only help he could offer her now. "No!" he shouted, jumping out of his hiding place. Rohan and Raven stopped in their movements, and looked at Beast Boy. He hadn't really been smart, showing himself to his enemy and his crush.

"What are you doing?" Raven shouted. Now he though about it, he didn't quite know what he wanted to do. He'd distract the count, yes, but what could he do next? He'd better had thought things through before revealing himself to the others. Rohan grinned at the blonde boy, and it wasn't a warm grin – more a grin that could be translated as 'I'm going to kill you and you won't even know what happened'.

"Now you boyfriend has arrived, the fun can begin." Beast Boy wanted to say something in his defense, but the words were stuck in his throat. He wasn't intimidated, but Rohan' choice of words had surprised him.

"Did he say 'boyfriend'?" He asked Raven, too optimistic for someone who stood in his position. He almost didn't see how Rohan charged at him, one hand with no glove, the gloved one holding a dangerous looking sword. He ducked just in time and got up. The count swung the sword and hit Beast Boy in his left side. As he fell to his knees, he wondered how that could have happened, he'd been a rhino… no, he thought to be a rhino, again forgetting he couldn't use his powers. His eyes widened in fear, and found that now, he could at best defend himself.

Yet, as this small fight continued, Beast Boy was losing. He expected it, actually, and shot one glance at Raven when the sword got stuck in a tree. She looked… for the first time in his life, he could _see_ what Raven was feeling! What a miracle! Anyway, she looked afraid, and quite mad. Distracted by trying to figure out why Raven was feeling those things (though he could easily guess what) the count took his chance and swung the blade, hitting BB's head. He fell on the ground, and watched the count. At least would he look at the man who would probably take his life. Rohan lifted up his sword, ready to end the life of the boy's life.

Before the count could perform such action, he was hit by a rock. Beast Boy raised an eyebrow, and looked at Raven. Now, she was standing with a fiery look in her eyes, almost challenging the man into a fight. He turned to the sorceress, and she kept looking him in the eyes.

"Beast Boy, run!" she called out.

"I'm not leaving you again!" he shouted back. That was true. It didn't matter how badly he was injured, he wouldn't let Raven be alone with the dangerous man.

"Garfield, go!" She said, stressing his name. She had never really said it, but he knew immediately she was up to something. She shot a glance at something not far away from him – the chest. He'd almost forgot about that! He tried standing up and limped towards the golden box. Every movement hurt. Was this really natural? When he had the chest in his hands, he noticed how the count still hadn't looked back at him or the chest. Eventually, he ran away, hiding back where he started out spying on the meeting. He could imagine the count grinning.

"Raven… why do you still try? Your boyfriend fled, you betrayed your friends – no, your family. Just give up already."

"Never," was Raven's reply. Beast Boy's head hurt. It hurt everywhere, but especially his head and side. He tried to stop the bleeding, but that wasn't handy when desperately trying to keep silent. Rohan would assume he ran away with the chest, far away, and wouldn't even look closely to the place where he hid earlier.

With in the backgrounds the sounds of the fight, his eyelids became heavy, and the last thoughts before blacking out were about hoping that Raven would make it, and that Robin would find the chest with him, so they could continue the journey. At least, he'd just been a burden to them, so why not just… go?

* * *

**I'm mean, aren't I, leaving you with such killer cliffhanger? Will Beast Boy and Raven survive the count's wrath? Or will they still end up like Bee and Kid?**** Anyway, thanks for the 2000 views everyone! ****N****ext update is due on October 3rd. On with the reviews:**

**simplyacritic** (ok, and what can I say? I like being descriptive in thoughts)

**Guest** (Okay, I understand the confusion. The deleted scene was meant to let the reader know Jinx also turned into stone. But, as it is deleted, it never really happened and I chose another victim instead of Jinx, otherwise there wouldn't be any girls left until the final stage. So, Jinx is still alive. Hope this is all clear to you now)

**-DutchWriters2**


	17. Goodbye

Obviously, they ran.

They ran away from the third test, away from the horrible thing, towards the place where they eventually would find the other two Titans who were missing. Every one had another theory they'd rather keep for themselves. Jinx thought Raven had come to her senses and was walking back to them, BB trailing behind her. Cyborg imagined how Beast Boy pleaded to Raven to return, only to return because she convinced herself and completely ignored Beast Boy. And Speedy and Robin, at the other hand, just hoped the two of them would be okay.

They stopped on an open place, and then noticed her. If it was possible, Jinx became even sadder, Cyborg still standing close to her. Speedy looked shocked and Robin couldn't keep his eyes off of her. Out of all people, they all thought that the one to survive all of the Path was Raven, being the one who could keep her emotions completely under control all the time. If she didn't have the grey color of stone, it would have looked like she was unconscious. The four didn't get that, if they just got past the task of Sloth, she could have turned to stone. Unless greed was active all over this Path, they didn't have any clue.

Speedy looked away and, eventually, walked a little away from the four – no, away from the three. He'd hoped he wouldn't have to witness another friend as a big giant rock again. He'd seen how it happened, and that was more than enough for him. Bee couldn't come back, Kid couldn't come back, and now Raven… what could he do?

was it just him, or did he hear someone moan? After another one, he knew he was hallucinating, or that somebody was lying in the bushes. He walked closely, and almost couldn't see what was lying there. Better said, who was lying there. It was a boy whose real appearance he learned to know when this horrible day started. His blonde hair was now messy, and at the back of his head dripped some blood, just like at his side. The face was pale, too pale to look healthy.

"Guys…" he said, unable to say anything else. They ran towards him, and stopped next to him. Their expressions were the same when Speedy had recognized the boy. It was obvious he had fought someone, and unless Rohan himself had shown up, they couldn't tell what happened to him.

Cyborg knelt down and whispered a soft 'no' at the body of his best friend Beast Boy. This couldn't be happening, not to him… as if the universe wanted to punish him for what he had caused. First Bee, then Kid, then his little sister Raven. He couldn't also lose his very best friend and brother Beast Boy. He put his hand on BB's stomach, and felt it was going up and down. He was still breathing, but it was slowly. He was losing too much blood. He was dying.

"Rae…" they all looked up, surprised. That was something Beast Boy just said. It came out weakly. It was clear he was almost at his end.

"No, B – it's me, Cyborg," he said. Don't cry. Do not cry… He could barely contain his tears. What would you do if your best friend was dying?

"Take… Rae…" Even if the others didn't understand what he was saying, so softly spoken it could have come out as a whisper. He wanted to be with Raven. Even though he knew it wasn't wise to move a wounded person, they couldn't let Beast Boy lie there in the bushes. So Cyborg carefully lifted up his best friend, and made his way to where Raven's statue was. When he put Beast Boy down again, the boy was now lying next to Raven and close to her, but not that he could touch the stone surface that once was her skin.

"She's lying at your right, B." Cyborg managed to say. Now it was Jinx' time to comfort Cyborg because of his dying best friend. Robin and Speedy were also sad that their favorite changeling was soon to die. Who wouldn't be sad when someone very close to them died?

It was a surprise that he even could move his hand. It wasn't that much of an effort, but the blonde moved his hand slowly towards Raven's open one. Nobody stopped Beast Boy. He had to choose for himself what he was going to do. He probably did not know Raven turned to stone. Or maybe he did, and choose for himself to end it now rather than to wait for his painful death to come to an end.

Cyborg couldn't hide his tears any longer when Beast Boy finally had found Raven's hand. He closed his around hers, and the rest is history. Jinx closed Cy into a hug, seeing they both needed to comfort each other. Robin allowed them to mourn – for Beast Boy as well for Kid Flash. He still thought of Starfire, but for now, Beast Boy deserved their attention. It was a shame they couldn't bury them, mostly because that there was now proof that if they touched the statues, they would have the same fate.

After a few minutes of mourning, Robin decided to go on. He turned to his friends and told them they had to move on. It was hard to confirm they had to leave the two behind. Yet, they just slowly walked away, which later turned into a steady walk, at the same speed when they first started to walk this damn path.

After a while, the environment was changing. The steady ground under their feet slowly turned to mud, the trees were growing shorter, and standing farther away from each others, and Speedy hoped that this dirty place would be over soon. He sure didn't think that there was a big swamp was lying ahead on them, directly on the Path.

* * *

**Okay, short chapter here in comparison to the others. This should have been as twice as long as now. That's because I had been busier than I thought. My cousins came, I had to learn for a few big tests, and monday we had a sports day, so I had barely any time to write, but this is what I managed to get on paper. I bet you weren't looking forward to waiting for another few days.**** Next update is due on October 8th. On with the reviews:**

** PhantomWish** (Yep, it's true... I would have kept him longer, but he wouldn't be of much help, so he had to go.)

**Encrypted** (Yes, you may. I was already wondering when someone would offer me some advice... I'll try and work on the things you pointed out, maybe even revise the previous chapters if I find the time, and thanks for giving me this advice. If you find some more errors, I don't mind if you let me know)

**-DutchWriters2**


	18. The fish monster in the swamp

"What the…" Came out of Speedy's mouth. And it immediately was the only commentary he would give this dirty environment. The others didn't think as much of this smelling place as the redhead, as they already went through it. For some reason, he wondered how in the world they could just walk through that swamp! It was a swamp, yes, but Speedy didn't like it. He more likely would hate it to walk through there. Yuk.

"Do we really need to get through this?" was the next thing the archer said. The three others turned to him. They saw him still standing there, refusing to take one step in the swamp.

"Yes, Speedy, we really need to get through this. There is no way back." Just that moment, one of Cyborg's feet found a small puddle which he stepped in. After a few careful steps, he seemingly found the same puddle. Speedy didn't like walking around wearing wet and dirty and smelling shoes. It made him look like an idiot, he thought.

"There's no way that I'm going through here." Somehow, they all had been expecting this. The Titan with the comb, probably the one most vane of the whole group, refused to go through something that would make him even a tiny bit dirty. Yep, it was expected. Robin sighed.

"But we have go pass this. And we're not leaving you behind. Remember what happened when you let Beast Boy and Raven go on their own?" Off course he remembered, it had happened a little hour ago! The two kept arguing for a while. Speedy suggested to walk around it, something Robin wouldn't want to do because they 'would lose too much time'. Robin insisted that Speedy would walk and didn't have to be so ridiculous, because Jinx already had walked through it, only using that example because she was a girl and most girls react like Speedy when coming across a dirty place. He was lucky she didn't have her powers anymore. It also didn't help much that the clock was still ticking and that they were losing time, something Robin tried to prevent. Eventually, Cyborg walked up to them and separated them – even though they weren't fighting physically, they were practically shouting in each other's faces.

"I'll carry him." he said, and the two shut up.

"Cyborg, you…"

"Listen, Rob, Speedy won't come with us walking through this. And Speedy, Robin wants to get to Starfire without losing too much time by walking around the swamp. If I carry you, you'll come with us, and so we won't lose as much time as Robin expects to lose." both of them opened their mouth to say something in their defense, but couldn't find any. At least Cyborg had found an answer to their problem.

"Are you sure?" Robin finally said. Cyborg nodded.

"Sure am."

* * *

So they walked for a while. Robin went first, as always, then Jinx, then Cyborg, carrying Speedy on his back. It seemed the environment didn't change at all, about which Speedy would want to complain. But he quickly learned that if he dared to speak out his mind about 'this dirty swamp', Cyborg wouldn't hesitate to drop him on the stop. The first time, Cy just stopped. The second time, he stopped and tried to get Speedy of his back. But if he would say one more word about their environment, Cyborg would certainly drop Speedy while he was still walking.

"Hey," Jinx finally said, breaking the silence, "Is this also one of those tests?" It was obvious she directed that question to Robin. He thought about the question. She could be right. This could actually be one of the next four tests – three, if greed was active over all of the path. So he started to sum them up.

"We've had anger, lust and sloth. But what could this be?" He, at his time, asked Jinx, who shrugged. Behind the two, Cyborg set Speedy to the ground, as if to rest for a while. He sure should, being the one to carry one lazy archer. He just stood on the place, refusing to move one inch. He got a disgusted look on his face when noticing the mud hanging on his shoes. Speaking about spoiled.

"Ah man! Stupid dirty marsh! I hope we go out of here soon as possible." That was when Robin realized something.

"Vanity."

"I am _not_ vane!" Speedy exclaimed. Robin shook his head, sighing. The three knew Speedy was vane – they knew it from his previous reactions.

"No, this is the next one! This is the test of vanity!"

"That one's easy." Cyborg said, and he bowed to the ground. He put his hands on the ground and took some mud in his hands, ultimately placing it on his cheeks and forehead. If Speedy was disgusted by the mud, then he would (probably) be safe when he was covered in mud.

"If that's supposed to be a mud mask, it might be better if you knew that we don't have to give in to them." Jinx said, and Cyborg tried to remove the mud on his face, in which he succeeded quite well.

"Come on, we gotta go." Robin said, turning to leave. Jinx followed, and Cyborg would too, if Speedy wasn't trying to get on Cy's back again. Robin turned his head and saw how Speedy kept trying, even if Cyborg was moving along with them.

"What do you think you're doing?" he said, his look strict. Speedy noticed this, despite Robin still wearing his mask, and stopped trying. Instead, he watched _very_ carefully where he stepped. He wouldn't want to trip, would he? They continued, slowly yet surprisingly steady, until at one point, Cyborg stumbled and fell with his face straight in a pool. Jinx grinned a bit, and Cyborg quickly stood up, and wanted to get that dirt off of him – before remembering it would be better to stay dirty until they found a way out of the marsh.

Step by step, they slowly got closer to the edge of the swamp, even though they didn't know how much farther it was. At this point, they were sort of walking in a small stream, which seemed less dirty than the sides. To keep Speedy 'happy', they walked in the stream. Better wet than dirty. At some point, Speedy tripped over his own feet, but could regain his balance and, unlike Cyborg, didn't fall. Yet, he was grossed out by the thought of _falling_ into that.

That's when he made his decision. He stopped moving. "I can't do this anymore." He received some irritated looks from Robin, Cyborg and Jinx – but mostly from Robin.

"Speedy, we have to keep moving. I don't want to know what's lurking here." Robin said. He sure didn't want to know what would happen if one of them gave in to vanity – if Speedy gave in to vanity. Spears, Mary Sues, a collapsing ceiling… if all those almost got them previously, what would be waiting for them in the marsh?

"I just can't do this anymore! Cyborg, would you please carry me?" was the archer really that desperate. Even if it couldn't be called desperate, as he already had been carried by Cyborg. Robin sighed, trying not to get angry. Trying not to since passing the first test. He would refer getting angry now to trying to dodge spears trying to kill him.

"Speedy, we can't let you do that." He said. He could read on Speedy's face that the redhead was getting annoyed, bored and, most of all, irritated by the fact that they still hadn't left the marsh. Did the guy already forget that 'too much haste is not good either'?

"I…" Speedy sighed, "I just don't like it here anymore! It's dirty and scary and…"

"Quiet," Jinx said, looking to their path. When the boys turned to look, there was nothing to see. Only a few bubbles at the water's surface. Some like they saw earlier before, at the sides and where they weren't walking. They couldn't find any reason why she was now so 'scared' about bubbles popping out of the water.

Unless she's seen something that the guys didn't.

Obviously, she did not, because this girl was probably only alarmed by something she caught in the corner of her eyes.

"…and I just want to go home!" Speedy finished his complaint. Not the smartest thing to to. The bubbles Jinx had seen earlier bubbled up again, and were now racing towards the four. It came closer to the surface, but not above it. They saw something that looked like a piranha, only way bigger. Speedy called out for Aqualad, forgetting that his friend wasn't even there. The big fish was rushing towards Jinx, who stood thee, firing hexes at it - before forgetting that her powers didn't work. She backed away, and fell backwards in a small pool, going completely down.

Jinx came up a little later, gasping for air. She stood up and half ran, half swam to the edge. Speedy sat at the edge, pulling his hand out for her. From his point of view, the small pool Jinx had fallen in could be this world's hot tub without the bubbles. Just a few more inches and she would be within Speedy's reach.

Too late. Something pulled her under, and she didn't come back. Without hesitating, Speedy jumped after. Cyborg wanted to jump in as well, but he was stopped by Robin. They didn't say anything, but they also didn't need words to tell each other what they wanted to tell. Cyborg wanted to make sure Jinx was safe, and Robin would want Speedy to do this on himself. If it took too long, they would either leave them be, or rescue them – if there even was anyone to save.

For half a minute, they stood there. Then, Jinx and Speedy came up, Jinx holding on to the archer, while he gave the water surface random blows, as if scaring away the giant piranha. In fact, he was more afraid of the fish than the fish was of the two teen heroes combined. Robin and Cyborg got to the edge as well, and pulled out their hands.

While Robin pulled Speedy out of the water, Cyborg did the same with Jinx. They were soaking wet (duh!) and were panting heavily. The four of them were all panting for some minutes, adrenaline pumping through their veins.

"Speedy," Robin began, "you did it. You've overcome your vanity to rescue Jinx." Speedy nodded, not getting out an answer for now. His heart was still racing. The thrill he always got when busy rescuing people's life back in Steel City. Only, this time, he actually couldn't do anything

"It's… It's what heroes do, Rob…" he said, not even minding how wet and 'dirty' he was. He's just saved a human life. That was worth a lot. More than an archer's vanity. Only then, he noticed they were all cuddling together. Just, for no reason. Sometimes it's better not to say anything, and just close your friends into a hug.

* * *

**This chapter feels rushed, doesn't it? I dunno, at least it feels rushed to me. The instan****t when I re-watched Titans East pt. 1, I knew I had to make him vanity's victim. But hey, he's still very alive and not stoned.**** We're coming close to the end now, just some few more chapters. Alright, who do you think will be the next to turn into stone, and how (we still got greed, gluttony and revenge for either Robin, Speedy, Cyborg or Jinx) If I see one review saying that revenge isn't one of the sins, in Dutch revenge really _is_ one of them, replacing envy****. ****N****ext update is due on October 13th. On with the reviews:**

**PhantomWish** (yeah, I didn't like what I did as well... when I began to write this, I intended him to go as one of the last, and it would have been Jinx dropping out. But I changed it - just in case you haven't noticed, he hasn't been much of a help to them when facing the first three sins)

**-DutchWriters2**


	19. Cyborg's choice

It's been three hours since the swamp and the piranha monster. The sun hadn't set yet, but in its position it couldn't be too long before it actually happened. The four of them started to feel hungry, thirsty and, in Jinx' case, in need of new, dry clothes. Speedy needed them, too, but he'd become used to the feeling, living with a waterbender in the same tower (and totally creeped out by the giant piranha). None of them spoke up, as they wanted to save as much energy as they could. Well, all minus Speedy, who couldn't stop whining about being hungry and not being able to eat something. After vanity, his worst sin could be considered gluttony.

Then, the castle came into view. Its turrets weren't that big, as it looked more functional than designed for defense and offense, but it still gave a majestic view with it being placed between the Titans and the bit remaining sunlight. A smile appeared on Robin's face – one he hadn't had since Starfire had been gone. They stopped walking for some moments. He guessed that the castle was just a mile away form where they were now, and in the castle was Starfire, waiting for the moment her Robin came in and rescued her.

"Guys," he began, "we're finally at the castle. Only so much ahead of us, and we're finally at the end. We lost many of our friends, one making the choice himself, but if we have rescued Starfire, the others might come back. Now-" Robin couldn't finish his short speech as none other than count Rohan jumped out of the bushes and nailed Robin to the ground, lying on top of the Titans' ultimate leader. He surprised them completely, and Speedy dropped the bag with the chest, now half-visible for all to see. His horse was nowhere to be seen, as he probably left it at the castle for this short distance.

"WHERE IS THE CHEST!?" He screamed, almost deafening Robin, who was ashamed of himself. He felt quite defenseless, as all those years training with the best was completely gone, just as the powers of the others. He pictured his mentor standing behind Jinx, Cyborg and Speedy, shaking his head because his first protégée was not even able to win from a man who practically lived in another universe with himself as the only inhabitant.

Cyborg noticed the bag, and shot a glance at the count. Nope, he hadn't seen it yet. He picked up both the bag and the chest, handing the latter over to Speedy. He laughed in himself when he remembered previous night, where he didn't even trust his best friend with the chest – and now, he would hand it over to the now pathetic archer with no trouble. Cy saw in Speedy's eyes that the remainder of Titans East didn't understand.

"What do I-" he began to whisper, but then understood what his metallic friend was going to do, and hid the chest behind his back. Then, Cyborg whistled, drawing Rohan's attention. The man turned his head abruptly, and looked at one of the boys that had dared to interrupt him in his usual business. His eyes widened as he noticed the bag – the chest was hidden in the bag, so all he needed to do was taking it away from the black skinned guy.

"If you want it, come and take it!" Cyborg shouted, already bolting away from the three remaining Teen Titans. The effect was the one he hoped for. The count jumped off of Robin immediately and followed Cyborg. Jinx helped Robin off the ground, and he watched how Cyborg ran, lurking away the count away from them… with the chest! Robin prepared to ran, shouting Cyborg's name, but was being stopped by Speedy.

"We can't let him get away with the chest!" Robin shouted to Speedy, who wasn't even listening. The did what any person would do – he showed Robin that he still had the chest. He looked at it, surprised, and then in the direction of Cyborg. Speedy nodded.

"Do you understand now?" Robin nodded in response. Cyborg was buying some time. He sacrificed himself, saved the three of them… it was his choice that could give them a chance in rescuing Starfire, at last. Robin took one last glance at the direction, opposite to the castle.

"Take care, Cyborg," he said, before running towards the castle, Jinx and Speedy following immediately.

* * *

Cyborg ran, realizing this was his chance – the only way – to give his friends an edge. The chest was safe in Speedy's hands, who would probably hand it over to Robin, in the knowledge a real heart was in there, the beating growing louder with every inch they got closer to the castle. How came the count hadn't heard that?

"Cyborg!" The black-skinned kid heard Robin's scream. Cy could admit he had better warned his leader what he was gonna do before putting his plan into action. He had already lost Starfire and others to Rohan, and he had probably hoped he wouldn't lose the three remaining Titans. And though he wanted to get back to them, he couldn't. _Speedy got it_, he told himself, _he'll explain to Jinx and Robin what I'm doing for them right now_. Those last words kept haunting him for the rest of the sprint. Maybe that was what the others thought before they… Cyborg gulped and tried to go faster, not daring to check if Rohan still was far behind or not.

Past the trees, over that rock, running through the grass, not stopping for anything. He lost all meaning of time, trying to escape an angry man, though it couldn't be longer than five minutes up until now. He knew what should happen when he slowed down, or even stopped, and that it would be old news if they found out, even if he was 'just their friend who gave them time'. Not unlike those others they lost. He almost stumbled upon thinking about Bee, Kid, Raven and Beast Boy. Those were all noble deeds.

Bumblebee – she tried to get Cyborg back, yes, but in a way, she protected him from those stupid nymphs.

Kid Flash – he caught a rock to let the others pass, careless about the fact that it could turn him into stone, or maybe he didn't know.

Raven – she was struck down by greed (supposedly) but she rescued the chest when it felt like her time was almost done.

BB – the blonde just did not want to suffer any longer from the wounds, on the verge of his death, making his decision quite noble (and selfish).

Cyborg tripped over a small rock, and he knew he was soon to be added to that list, if he wanted it or not. He fell to the ground, wondering how in the world he could have tripped, rolling a few feet away, and when he finally ended up on his back, he could see the look Rohan's face clearly. It wasn't a happy look. It was as if he was looking at his pray with a quite white rage. "**_WHERE IS THE DAMN CHEST_**?"

It would be better not to say anything at all, he knew. A better solution would be to glare at the count, which said everything Cy wanted to tell him – how he hated Rohan, how he'd punch him for starting all this, how he wanted to get back home, how he'd beg to let the others go, how he'd like to strangle him for taking away Bumblebee and Beast Boy…

"That one's for Bee and Beast Boy!" he spat out, still glaring evilly at the count. Meanwhile, that man that kept him on the ground got angry, angrier than he already was because those kids had gotten so far and tricked him. He pulled out one of his gloves and looked at Cyborg, who just raised an eyebrow, staring into the man's cold eyes. He wouldn't give in! Rohan put his bare hand onto the kid's face, pulled it back and Cy's face immediately started to turn into stone. _It was worth it,_ Cyborg thought milliseconds before his brain got affected. He hadn't really thought about the (rather clear) consequences – just that he had won some extra time because of some useless chase. He honestly did not think of what should happen to himself.

It was his own choice, after all.

* * *

**And then there were three! Betcha didn't see that coming, with Cy and Rohan. So, 2 chaps (+epilogue) left and then it's done... Next chapter = seeing Starfire again (finally!)! Next update is due on October 18th. On with the review:**

**Encrypted** (About revenge... three sins for three Titans... yeah, that'll probably work out well. I've already planned out the final, and those two will definitely have to fight)

**-DutchWriters2**


	20. About gems, fish tacos and revenge

They had luck when they found that one open door that would lead them into the castle. They split up, not wanting to lose some valuable time Cyborg gave them. It had been Jinx who found the door, and they walked in silently.

"Maybe she's stuck in a tower." Speedy suggested. Both Jinx and Robin turned around, and looked at him as if he were mad. Speedy shrugged as a sort-of response. "Girls are almost always stuck in towers when in danger. Didn't you know?"

"This isn't exactly what you would call a fairy tale," Jinx snapped at the archer. Robin stood next to her, nodding.

"I think Jinx might be right. Searching the towers first would cost us time. Let's begin with the ground floor." There was nobody on the ground floor. They indeed found Rohan's horse in the stables, but except for the horse and the three remaining Titans, it seemed nobody was held on this floor. The three of them climbed up the stairs, still looking around – you never know what'll hit you if you don't watch out behind enemy lines.

They entered the room. Robin ignored most of it, but that couldn't be said about Jinx and Speedy. They were caught up in what they saw in the room. It was almost completely occupied by a long table, on which many different types of food and drinks were placed. In the corner of the room there was some space, but even that was filled with all kind of clothing, jewelry and a large mirror. Speedy found himself attracted to the food, Jinx to the pretty dresses and jewels. Robin noticed just in time that they were looking at it.

"That's greed and gluttony. Don't touch anything," he warned them. Looking didn't do anything bad, it probably would only be bad when they ate it, or put on new clothes. Even though Robin himself was quite hungry and, to be honest, he didn't like wearing something wet, but he couldn't fall for it. He was the leader, he should be their role model, both as hero and now, as leader of the small rescue team.

He shouted Starfire's name. They had a chance that she would hear they were in there.

"Robin?" Robin looked up. It was Starfire who said that. He ran up to the door where he had heard his name, just at the end of the room of greed and gluttony. He didn't show any interest in the background sounds Jinx and Speedy were making. Whatever they did, it was good as long as both didn't do anything stupid.

Meanwhile, in the background, Speedy was checking out the many delicious dishes, and Jinx did the same with the gorgeous dresses and jewels. There were a lot of stuff they really liked, as if Rohan knew he should make it. Yet, they knew the drill – eat it, or put it on, or even think about it, and you could be transformed into a statue. And another factor of it being quite irresistible, was that they were free to take whatever they wanted – it would turn them into stone anyway. Then, Speedy's eyes found his favorite dish off all time when Jinx herself was looking at one heck of a gem.

It couldn't hurt to pick it up, right?

"Starfire!?" Robin called out, and heard his love say his name in response. He's been waiting for this moment ever since he found out she was gone. He tried to open the door, both pushing and pulling, tried to knock it open with one of the moves he once learned, but this world already had taken care of that 'dangerous' move.

If he couldn't open the door with merely his body, he should use something he's seen in the room. A leg of one of the chairs, perhaps? Robin turned around, and stopped his moves. This couldn't be happening, not now! Speedy and Jinx… that didn't end well. The statue resembling to Speedy had been eating something that looked like a taco. Jinx's facial expression let Robin know she saw what happened to the archer, making a move which made the gem touch her bare skin. So, in the end, they both didn't make it.

Robin started to be filled with rage. Again two of his friends – the only two that had gotten so far – had fallen victim to the Path. It almost took him over, and he almost couldn't contain it. He just grabbed the chair and yelled "Stand back!" before running towards the door, breaking it open. He dropped the chair and caught Starfire, who jumped into his arms.

This felt good. It was nice to hold her in his arms again, to feel her body against his, to be reunited after the horrors they both had to withstand: Robin with every sin they passed, Starfire hoping every second that her boyfriend would make it. They didn't know how long they stood there, just holding each other, not caring about other things.

At least, not until the thought of the chest randomly popped up in his head. He let go of her, and went to take the chest. He placed it in front of a kneeling Starfire.

"Do you have the key?" she asked him, a smile still placed on her lips. He took it out of his pocket an held it in his hand.

"Let's end this now." he said, ready to open the chest.

"Good plan," an unexpected voice said, a sword swinging down, on its way to hit Robin. It would have hit him if he hadn't jumped out of the way. The key flew out of his hand, on the ground. Starfire gasped, and instead of standing up against Rohan, she crawled back. She muttered some Tamaran curses under her breath for her cowardliness. Robin stood up, and tried his best to dodge every move Rohan made, eventually ending up using Jinx as a 'human shield', still careful not to touch it.

He quickly picked up a sword that was laying on the ground, the one Starfire had dropped during her first attempt to escape. It had been laying there the whole day – Rohan hadn't seen any reason to pick it up and put it somewhere safe, where it couldn't be used it against him. He held it with both hands, the end pointing at Rohan's face, while Rohan held his in his hand, point down, just as ready for combat at Robin. His look said everything – but, at most, it was one that said 'prepare to die'. It was the look both had in their eyes.

Robin would make a chance, even with the sword, a weapon that felt uncomfortable to hold in his hands. He never wielded one, unlike Rohan, who probably grew up with his sword in his hands, training with it every day. As if Robin needed to handle a sword. He lifted the sword, and swung it down, only then realizing his fault. He changed the course, now missing Rohan by few millimeters.

Starfire, watching all of this happening, couldn't believe why Robin changed his mind in the last second.

"What are you doing?" she shouted. Robin should be fighting for her and her friends, to make sure they would all end up alright. She's noticed Jinx and Speedy, off course, and that was another reason why she would want Robin to keep fighting 'till their very end. It was Rohan who answered her question. He didn't look away from Robin when answering her question.

"He doesn't fight because he can't win," he explained, slapping Robin in the face, making him fall on the ground – he didn't even try to defend himself from the count. He crawled back up right in time, dodging another swing.

"I must admit that you're quite smart, Robin," he said, landing a blow in Robin's stomach. He lifted his fist, but didn't intend it to give Rohan a same blow, but he didn't.

"When your boyfriend fights back," he continued, answering Star's question and beating Robin badly, "he'll turn into stone immediately. It's the last sin, all around the castle. Do you remember, Robin? Eh? _Remember with all you will do, keep your heart filled with love and courage._" Upon hearing the news that it was kind of impossible to win in this situation, she froze on the spot. If she didn't do something, then her Robin would be gone, and she would follow.

The chest. Charlotte (remember, the ghost girl) told Starfire that it was essential to open the chest at sunset in the castle. Robin had brought the chest there, and if she could grab the key, there would be chance this was over… even though she didn't know why exactly the chest had to be opened. She rushed to the key, picked it up and ran back to the chest, quavering badly when trying to get the key in its lock.

"Revenge!" Rohan called out, still not shooting one glance at his prisoner who tried to open his chest, still hitting the Boy Wonder very hard, "so Robin cannot win from me!" At this point, Robin laid down on his back, the point of Rohan's sword resting on his stomach. Robin was in a position in which he couldn't get up.

"Prepare to die, Robin," he said, lifting his sword. That was it, then… after coming so far, after all those tests, his life would be ended by one stab with the sword.

"Wait!" Starfire shouted, Rohan looking up at her confused. She's given her boyfriend the chance to roll away. She saw how Rohan brought his sword down, raged because she made his pray escape. The count looked at her, his rage replaced with shock as he saw the key had been placed on the chest, and that the chest was about to be opened…

* * *

**And... cliffhanger! I decided to split this chapter in two, so next will be the second part of this one, then an epilogue, then we're done. ****Next update is due on October 23rd.**

**-DutchWriters2**


	21. Pretiosum

The chest opened, and Rohan looked at it, surprised. Nobody had ever opened it, and it just had to happen in the last minutes of his last victim. The count looked at the hearts, beating in the same rhythm.

"My heart…" he stuttered.

"And mine," a voice said. The three of them turned to the source and saw Charlotte. Instead of being that floating ghost girl, she now stood there, materialized, and walked to Rohan. Robin took his chance and crawled back to Starfire.

"Charlotte?" said the count, startled. He hadn't expect to see his former girlfriend. Actually, he hadn't thought he would ever have to see her again. It hurt him to see her like that. Happy. Did she really enjoy it with her 'husband'? She smiled at Rohan.

"Your heart…" Before he could finish, Charlotte interrupted him.

"I sacrificed it to Trigon, for you, and so could I chose them to rescue yours. And mine." It made sense now. That was the biggest sacrifice – she did that same thing Rohan did, but for their love. Now Starfire understood why Charlotte couldn't walk the path herself.

"But why? You loved someone else!" Rohan said, and Charlotte shook her head.

"That was a lie told by my parents. The only man I've ever loved, was you." She was standing really close now. The Rohan that Robin learned to know past hours couldn't be compared to this one. The one he fought was ruthless and showed no mercy. It was incredible how fast that Rohan could reduce to the hesitating, more merciful Rohan. Charlotte lifted her hand, and touched his cheek. She did not turn into stone, as Rohan had expected. Which would probably mean…

He put his hand on his chest, and found out that he felt his heart in there, beating. Something he hadn't expect to feel ever again. Yet, he was very much alive – more alive than he was after selling his heart and ending up like a sort of zombie. Slowly, their heads came closer, Rohan (still shocked and surprised) bowing closer to Charlotte's.

It ended up a kiss. One between Charlotte and Rohan de Beaufort. Quite surprising, for someone that was supposed to be heartless. Behind them, some sort of light shone. And in the background, they could hear sounds. It came from outside – as if suddenly a whole village started to come out of their houses and began to do whatever they needed to do on the street.

Robin and Starfire looked at each other. In their eyes, they could see both were relieved it was finally done. There was no danger surrounding them anymore, so… this might be a good moment for a kiss? This should be the moment, seeing all danger was just gone. Like it had been in Tokyo. If it wasn't a good moment, Starfire kissed Robin anyways. She's missed him long enough, in times where both were in grave danger, so they had deserved it.

For a second, they felt like they were the last two people on Earth.

Next moment, darkness was all around them and dragged them into the unconsciousness.

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**And that was me trying to write some romance... I know, way too short chapter, shorter than any other - least favorite to write anyway (except that little Robstar moment). I just am not good in romance. Like, not at all. ****Last update is due on October 28th. On with the review:**

**Victoria** (Ah, no problem!)

**-DutchWriters2**


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